North Korea will launch a nuclear attack if Kim Jong Un is killed: New provision added to constitution, decision after Iranian Supreme Leader's death

North Korea has added a new provision to its constitution and nuclear policy. Now, if the country's supreme leader Kim Jong-un is assassinated or he is not in a position to lead a foreign attack, North Korea will immediately launch a nuclear attack. According to a report in the British newspaper The Telegraph, the change was made after the US and Israeli attacks on Tehran in March. Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several senior Iranian officials were killed in the attacks. According to South Korea's intelligence agency, the attacks made Pyongyang think and worried North Korea that such a "decapitation strike" could be carried out against it in the future. The new provision was adopted during the first session of the 15th Supreme People's Assembly that began in Pyongyang on March 22. South Korea's National Intelligence Service later reported the change to senior government officials. Why did North Korea's nuclear policy change? Defense experts believe that the attacks on Iran shook North Korea's leadership. Given the speed and accuracy of the attacks, Pyongyang felt that foreign powers could carry out similar operations against Kim Jong-un and the North Korean military leadership. Andrei Lankov, a professor of history and international relations at Kookmin University in Seoul, told the media that the operation on Iran had become a major warning sign for North Korea. "Iran was a wake-up call," Lankov said. North Korea saw how effective the U.S. and Israeli decapitation attacks were, which immediately wiped out much of the Iranian leadership. Now North Korea must have been very scared. He also said that it is possible that such a policy may have existed informally earlier, but now it has been made a part of the Constitution, so its importance has increased. According to experts, it would be much more difficult to carry out such an attack in North Korea than in Iran. North Korea is one of the most closed countries in the world. Foreign diplomats, aid workers and businessmen are under strict surveillance, making it extremely difficult to gather intelligence. According to local Iranian media reports, Israeli intelligence agencies used hacked traffic cameras and digital surveillance systems to keep an eye on Iranian leaders. However, it will be very difficult to do so in Pyongyang, as the CCTV network in North Korea is limited and the government has tight control over the internet system there. Kim Jong-un is also considered very strict about his personal security. They usually travel with a large group of heavily armed bodyguards and avoid air travel. Instead, they use armoured trains for domestic and international trips. Professor Lankov said North Korea is now more afraid of satellite tracking technology than traditional espionage. "His (Kim Jong-un's) biggest fear is the information he gets from satellite technology. Their concerns are not misplaced, as eliminating the leadership at the beginning of any conflict can prove crucial. According to Lankov, if Kim Jong-un is attacked, North Korea's military leadership will follow the order for nuclear retaliation, as officials there see any foreign attack as a threat to the country's existence. "I don't see the possibility of any such attack from South Korea, so any retaliatory action will be targeted by the United States," he said. What other military actions is North Korea taking? North Korea has also announced plans to deploy a long-range artillery system near the border, increasing pressure on South Korea. According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Jong-un recently visited a weapons factory and inspected the production of a "new type of 155 mm self-propelled gun-howitzer" there. The new artillery system can strike up to a range of more than 60 km and will be deployed near the South Korean border this year. This could put the capital Seoul under direct attack. KCNA quoted Kim Jong-un as saying that the new howitzer system will provide a significant change and additional advantage to our military's ground operations. Relations between North and South Korea have steadily deteriorated in recent years, with several peace efforts from Seoul. North Korea has now openly referred to South Korea as its main enemy and has removed references to Korean unification from its constitution. North and South Korea are technically still in a state of war, as the Korean War of 1950-1953 ended only with a ceasefire agreement, not a formal peace treaty.