[1/4] The 9th Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is held at the Mansudae Assembly Hall, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture obtained by Reuters on September 28, 2023. KCNA via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsSEOUL, Sept 28 (Reuters) - North Korea has adopted a constitutional amendment to enshrine its policy on nuclear force, state media reported on Thursday, as the country's leader pledged to accelerate production of nuclear weapons to deter what he called U.S. provocations. "The DPRK's nuclear force-building policy has been made permanent as the basic law of the state, which no one is allowed to flout with anything," North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said, addressing the parliament. The amendment comes a year after North Korea officially enshrined in law the right to use preemptive nuclear strikes to protect itself, a move Kim had said would make its nuclear status "irreversible". The announcement by parliament also comes after North Korean state media said on Wednesday Pyongyang had decided to expel Private Travis King, the U.S. soldier who ran into North Korea in July.

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Persons: KCNA, Kim Jong Un, Kim, Vladimir Putin, Yang Moo, Yoon Suk Yeol, Travis King, Soo, hyang Choi, Hyonhee, Ed Davies, Josie Kao, Lincoln Organizations: Supreme People's Assembly, Democratic People's, Reuters, KCNA, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Supreme, Assembly, North, U.S, NATO, Moscow, Analysts, University of North Korean Studies, South, Wednesday Pyongyang, Thomson Locations: Democratic People's Republic, Korea, Mansudae, Pyongyang, North Korea, Rights SEOUL, DPRK, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, U.S, United States, South Korea, Japan, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Northeast Asia, Seoul, North Korean, China