Analysis Why North Korea dropped a reference to ‘defending’ Kim Jong Un from constitutionSurprise deletion of phrase introduced in 2019 is sign leader has eliminated perceived military threats to his rule ![]() The North Korean government has published the full text of the country’s new constitution following its amendment in September, revealing a surprising deletion of a phrase about “defending” leader Kim Jong Un. The DPRK previously announced a series of constitutional revisions to reflect changes to the country’s nuclear doctrine at a meeting of the Supreme People’s Assembly from Sept. 26-27. The text of the new constitution recently uploaded to the North Korean government portal Naenara largely aligned with the announced revisions, including language about how the DPRK is a “responsible nuclear weapons © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. |