North Korea's 'Dead Hand'? Pyongyang will fire nukes if Kim Jong-un is killed

North Korea has revised its constitution to mandate an automatic nuclear strike if leader Kim Jong-un is assassinated or incapacitated during a hostile attack threatening the country's nuclear command system.

In Short

• North Korea mandates automatic nuclear strike if Kim is killed by foreign foes
• Change follows US-Israeli strikes on Iran killing top leaders
• New law ensures retaliation even if Kim cannot command nuclear forces

North Korea has revised its constitution to mandate an automatic nuclear strike if leader Kim Jong-un is assassinated or incapacitated by a foreign adversary, The Telegraph reported citing a briefing by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS).

The constitutional change came in the aftermath of the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei and several senior advisers, an operation that appears to have deeply rattled Pyongyang’s leadership.

The move has drawn comparisons with Russia’s Cold War-era “Dead Hand” system, officially known as Perimeter. Developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, the system was designed to automatically launch a retaliatory nuclear strike if Soviet leadership and command structures were destroyed in an enemy attack. North Korea’s new doctrine appears to embrace a similar deterrence logic: if Kim Jong-un is killed, Pyongyang still wants the world to believe its nuclear response would remain inevitable.

The revision was adopted during the first session of North Korea’s 15th Supreme People’s Assembly, which opened on March 22 in Pyongyang. The changes were publicly disclosed on Thursday during an NIS briefing to senior South Korean government officials.

Under the revised Article 3 of North Korea’s nuclear policy law, a retaliatory nuclear strike must be launched “automatically and immediately” if hostile attacks place the country’s nuclear command-and-control system in danger. While Kim retains direct command of the nuclear forces, the amendment formally establishes procedures for retaliation even if he is unable to issue orders himself.

Professor Andrei Lankov, a historian and international relations expert at Kookmin University in Seoul, said North Korea likely already had such contingency plans but chose to hardwire them into law after watching the strikes on Iran unfold with alarming efficiency.

“Iran was the wake-up call,” Lankov said, noting that North Korea saw how quickly senior Iranian leadership figures were eliminated in coordinated attacks. He added that Pyongyang is now likely “terrified” of a similar decapitation strike.

Still, experts believe carrying out such an operation in North Korea would be significantly harder than in Iran. The country’s borders remain heavily sealed, foreign diplomats and visitors are tightly monitored, and Pyongyang’s limited CCTV infrastructure and isolated intranet make the kind of intelligence gathering reportedly used in Tehran difficult to replicate.

Kim, who is known for his intense security precautions, rarely flies and usually travels aboard a heavily armoured train while surrounded by bodyguards. In North Korea, paranoia is not just a personality traitit is practically state policy.

Lankov said Pyongyang’s biggest concern is likely satellite surveillance technology, adding that any attempt to eliminate the North Korean leadership at the start of a conflict could prove decisive. He also said any retaliatory strike would most likely target the United States rather than South Korea, as he sees little possibility of Seoul initiating such an attack.

The constitutional revision comes as North Korea continues to harden its military posture against South Korea despite recent peace overtures from Seoul. Pyongyang has repeatedly described the South as its principal enemy and has removed longstanding references to Korean unification from its constitution.

At the same time, North Korea announced plans to deploy a new type of long-range artillery near the inter-Korean border. State media outlet KCNA reported that Kim recently inspected production of a “new-type 155-millimetre self-propelled gun-howitzer” at a munitions factory.

According to KCNA, the artillery system has a range exceeding 37 miles and will be deployed this year to long-range artillery units positioned along the border with South Korea. The range would place central Seoul, located roughly 35 miles from the border, as well as large parts of the densely populated Gyeonggi province, within striking distance.

KCNA quoted Kim as saying the new howitzer would bring “significant changes and advantages” to North Korea’s ground operations.

North and South Korea technically remain at war because the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty.

- Ends