Why North Korea dropped a reference to ‘defending’ Kim Jong Un from constitution
Surprise 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