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Kim says S Korea ‘number one hostile state’, unification no longer possible

Tuesday, 16 January 2024 11:31 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 16 January 2024 11:31 AM ]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has said he no longer believed unification with South Korea was possible and called for constitutional change to identify the south as “number one hostile state.”

In a speech to the Supreme People’s Assembly, North Korea’s parliament, Kim said he had concluded that unification with the South was no longer possible, and that Seoul is seeking regime change and unification by absorption.

The two Koreas ended their 1950-53 war with a truce but not a peace treaty, however, ties seem to be deteriorating.

“We don’t want war, but we have no intention of avoiding it,” Kim was quoted as saying by KCNA news agency.

“In the event of war on the Korean peninsula, I think it is also important to reflect on the issue of completely occupying, suppressing, and reclaiming (South Korea) and incorporating it into the territory of our Republic,” Kim added

KCNA said on Tuesday that North Korea would close three agencies that oversee unification and inter-Korean tourism: the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification, the National Economic Cooperation Bureau and the Mount Kumgang International Tourism Administration.

“The two most hostile states, which are at war, are now in acute confrontation on the Korean peninsula,” a decision adopted by the assembly said, according to KCNA.

“The reunification of Korea can never be achieved with the Republic of Korea.”

Kim’s comments come amidst a string of missile tests and a determined effort by Pyongyang to depart from long-standing policies and alter its relationship with the South, highlighting the escalating tensions in the Korean Peninsula.

His comments were immediately condemned by the South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, who at a cabinet meeting accused Pyongyang of being an “anti-national” for calling the South “a hostile country.”

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North Korea South Korea Pyongyang Seoul Kim Jong-Un Korean Peninsula korea Yoon Suk yeol Supreme People's Assembly primary foe rubber-stamp parliament