North Korea issues new law to 'fire nuclear weapon' if Kim Jong Un is assassinated

North Korea has dropped a new law that would automatically trigger a nuclear strike if leader Kim Jong Un is killed, and experts say Iran is to blame for putting the idea in his head.

The Telegraph reported that the constitutional change was adopted at the first session of the 15th Supreme People's Assembly, which opened on 22 March in Pyongyang, and was made public after a briefing to senior South Korean government officials by its National Intelligence Service.

The revised Article 3 of North Korea's nuclear policy now states that if the command and control system of the state's nuclear forces is placed in danger by hostile forces, a nuclear strike will be launched automatically and immediately.

Put simply, Kim Jong Un has just made himself to most dangerous man on the earth to kill, as the moment he's taken out - the missiles go up.

The US-Israeli strikes on Iran has scared the North Koreans into action (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Why Iran terrified King Jong Un

The same report said Professor Andrei Lankov, a Russian-born expert in history and international relations and Kookim University in Seoul, said Iran was essentially the wake-up call that spooked Pyongyang into action. After witnessing the speed and precision with which US-Israeli strikes wiped out much of the Iranian leadership, North Korea reportedly became 'terrified' the same thing could happen to them.

Professor Lankovalso warned that the US pulling off the same manoeuvre in North Korea would be extraordinarily difficult.

North Korea's borders are effectively sealed, foreign visitors closely monitored, and the country runs a tightly controlled intranet rather than the open internet, making the kind of intelligence gathering that helped located the Iranian leaders virtually impossible to replicate.

Kim Jon Un is notoriously paranoid about his safety, traveling by heavily armoured train and rarely flying.

Recently, he's been doubling down on his nuclear ambitions across the board.

North Korea's Chloe Hyon has gone nuclear (North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA))

Does North Korea have a nuclear warship?

The Wall Street Journal reported that Kim recently inspected North Korea's first nuclear-capable warship, the Choe Hyon, which is set to be deployed in June.

It believed to be part of a five year weapons programme unveiled in February that includes arming both warships and submarines with nukes.

Weapons experts revealed that by extending nuclear capability to the seas would make it significantly harder for the US and South Korea to track and neutralise North Korea's firing assets before missiles could be launched.

On land, things aren't looking much calmer.

According to reports, North Korea also plans to deploy a new 155mm self propelled howitzer along its southern border, a weapon with range exceeding 37 miles that would put central Seoul well within striking distance.

Pyongyang is making 'very serious' progress on producing weapons (JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)

How big is North Korea's nuclear arsenal?

Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned that North Korea has made very serious progress in expanding its nuclear weapons production, with activity surging at the Yongbyon Nuclear Complex.

As of early 2024, North Korea is estimated to have assembled approximately 50 nuclear warheads. While this is the estimated stockpile, they are believed to possess enough fissile material to build up to 70–90 nuclear weapons in total. South Korea's president estimated earlier this year that the North is now producing enough material to build 10 to 20 nuclear weapons annually.