NORTH KOREA’S parliament has passed a law allowing a pre-emptive nuclear strike to protect the country’s leadership, the official news agency reported today.

The law spells out the conditions under which Pyongyang would be prepared to use its nuclear weapons, including when it determines that its leadership is facing an imminent “nuclear or non-nuclear attack by hostile forces.”

North Korea’s military must “automatically” execute nuclear strikes against enemy forces, including their “starting point of provocation and the command,” if the country’s leadership comes under attack, the legislation says.