North Korea has quietly changed its constitution to include a dangerous new rule. If Kim Jong Un is killed or seriously hurt in an attack, the country's nuclear weapons will fire automatically without human control. South Korea's National Intelligence Service revealed this change on May 6, after North Korea's parliament approved it in March.
The new law makes Kim Jong Un the official commander of all nuclear weapons. It also describes North Korea as a "responsible nuclear weapons state." Experts believe Kim made this change after watching Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei die in attacks earlier this year.
The constitution has other major changes too. For decades, North Korea's founding document promised to reunify with South Korea peacefully. All these references are now gone. Instead, the new constitution lists South Korea as a separate foreign country with its own border. The document does not mention where exactly this border is, avoiding the disputed boundary line in the Yellow Sea that has caused naval conflicts for many years.
These changes show that Kim has decided South Korea is now an enemy nation, not a lost part of Korea that might reunite someday. The automatic nuclear strike rule sits waiting in the law, ready to work if the worst happens to Kim Jong Un.