North Korea amended its constitution, enshrining the obligation to launch an automatic nuclear strike if the life of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is threatened. The amendments were unanimously adopted at the first session of the 15th Supreme People's Assembly, held in Pyongyang on March 22, but they were only made publicly known in early May.

According to the amended Article 3 of the Nuclear Forces Policy Law, "if the command and control system of the state's nuclear forces is threatened by attacks from hostile forces... a nuclear strike must be launched automatically and immediately." The amendments also, for the first time at the constitutional level, formally enshrined the exclusive right to use nuclear weapons in the hands of the Chairman of the State Council (Kim Jong-un).

Furthermore, the Basic Law now includes a provision stating that the territories of the DPRK and the Republic of Korea are divided, eliminating any mention of possible unification. In March, Kim Jong-un already called South Korea "the most hostile state."