North Korea has reportedly revised its nuclear doctrine to authorize an automatic nuclear strike if Kim Jong Un is assassinated or if the country's nuclear command structure is disabled during an attack, a move analysts say dramatically raises the risks of rapid escalation on the Korean Peninsula.
According to South Korea's National Intelligence Service, the constitutional revision was approved during the first session of North Korea's 15th Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang on March 22. The reported changes have since been shared with senior South Korean officials, triggering fresh debate among military planners and nuclear policy experts in Washington, Seoul and Tokyo.
At the center of the revised doctrine is a provision that effectively creates what analysts describe as a "dead man's switch" for North Korea's nuclear arsenal.
"If the command-and-control system over the state's nuclear forces is placed in danger by hostile forces' attacks... a nuclear strike shall be launched automatically and immediately," the revised Article 3 reportedly states.
The language appears designed to eliminate uncertainty about retaliation in the event of a decapitation strike targeting Kim or North Korea's military leadership. While Kim Jong Un remains the ultimate authority over the country's nuclear forces, the updated policy suggests launch procedures could now proceed automatically if leadership communications collapse during a conflict.
The change comes as North Korea continues expanding its missile and nuclear capabilities while relations with the United States and South Korea remain tense. Pyongyang has repeatedly accused Washington and Seoul of rehearsing assassination scenarios during joint military exercises, particularly operations aimed at removing the North Korean leadership during wartime.
Security analysts said the policy appears heavily influenced by recent conflicts involving Iran and Israel, where senior military and intelligence figures were rapidly targeted during coordinated operations.
Professor Andrei Lankov said North Korea likely interpreted those events as a warning about the vulnerability of centralized command systems.
"North Korea saw the remarkable efficiency of the US-Israeli decapitation attacks, which immediately eliminated the greater part of the Iranian leadership, and they must now be terrified," Lankov said.
Unlike Iran, however, North Korea remains one of the world's most isolated states, with an internal security apparatus designed specifically to prevent infiltration and intelligence gathering. Foreign access is tightly controlled, internet usage is heavily restricted and surveillance systems operate across nearly every aspect of public life.
The revised doctrine does not identify a specific target country for retaliation. Instead, it refers broadly to attacks carried out by "hostile forces," language that analysts believe is primarily aimed at the United States and South Korea. Japan, because of its alliance with Washington and expanding regional defense role, could also fall within Pyongyang's strategic calculations.
