Kim Jong Un has labeled South Korea his country’s “main enemy” and warned he would not hesitate to destroy the country, state media said on Wednesday.
The dictator – who celebrated his 40th birthday on Monday – also said he had “no intention of avoiding war” with his country’s historic enemy in the south, as he visited a major arms factory.
In images released today, Kim is seen, wearing a full-length black leather jacket and holding a cigarette, standing in front of what analysts believe are short-range ballistic missile launchers. The missiles are reportedly nuclear capable.
The report follows recent shooting exercises by Pyongyang’s military near the disputed maritime border, which prompted counter-drills and evacuation orders for residents of two South Korean border islands.
“The historical time has finally come when we must define the entity called the Republic of Korea as most hostile to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Kim told the official Korean Central News Agency.
Kim Jong Un has labeled South Korea his country’s “main enemy” and warned he would not hesitate to destroy the country as he toured an arms factory, state media said on Wednesday.
Kim, who urged factory workers to modernize and “produce more weapons,” said he had “no intention of avoiding war” and warned that he would “destroy” South Korea without hesitation, KCNA added.
News of the factory tour came a day after nearly fifty countries joined the United States in condemning North Korea’s alleged transfer of weapons to Vladimir Putin’s forces for use in Ukraine, triggering a slew of sanctions of the United Nations.
The White House said last week that it has evidence that Russia has fired additional North Korea-supplied ballistic missiles at Ukraine.
It accused the North of sending both missiles and launchers to Russia, which it called a “significant and worrying escalation” of its support for Putin’s war efforts.
The live-fire drills that began last Friday marked one of the most serious escalations between the two sides since 2010, when the North shelled Yeonpyeong Island, killing four, including two Marines.
Kim, accompanied by senior party and military officials, visited several munitions factories on Monday and Tuesday, KCNA said.
It described the visits as an encouragement “in the fight to meet the huge production target for the new year.”
Kim said that while the North would not “unilaterally” provoke a confrontation, it “had no intention of avoiding war.”
If Seoul were to use force against the North, “we will without hesitation destroy the ROK by mobilizing all resources and forces in our hands,” Kim said.
These comments signal a shift in North Korea policy and indicate that Pyongyang will take a “much tougher stance” toward Seoul in the future, Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification told French news agency AFP.
“It is the first time that the North has called the South its ‘main enemy’, signifying the change from North Korea’s approach in Seoul to an ultra-hawkish mode,” he said. The North’s recent artillery exercises were “emblematic of the changed approach,” he added.
Images in state media showed Kim, wearing a long black leather jacket and holding a cigarette, standing in front of what analysts said were short-range ballistic missile launchers. The missiles are reportedly nuclear capable
The dictator – who celebrated his 40th birthday on Monday – was quoted by North Korean state media as saying he had “no intention of avoiding war” with his country’s southern neighbor as he toured a major arms factory (pictured)
Kim (seen second right), who urged factory workers to modernize and “produce more weapons,” said he had “no intention of avoiding war” and warned that he would “destroy” South Korea without hesitation ‘, KCNA reported.
Images released by the North Korean News Agency showed Kim standing in front of what analysts said were short-range ballistic missile launchers. The missiles are reportedly nuclear capable
Pictured: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits a munitions factory at an undisclosed location in this photo released Jan. 10 by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency
Kim and North Korea have recently made similar threats against South Korea.
Analysts say Kim is likely hoping that South Korea’s liberal opposition, which is seeking reconciliation with North Korea, would win the April election.
Kim also apparently believes he can win American concessions if former President Donald Trump returns to the White House, analysts said.
Kim and Trump met three times as part of high-stakes nuclear diplomacy in 2018-2019.
There are concerns that North Korean provocations could lead to limited clashes between the two Koreas along their heavily armed border.
There have been three bloody maritime skirmishes between the Koreas along the disputed maritime border since 1999, and two attacks blamed on North Korea killed 50 South Koreans in the area in 2010.
Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in decades.
Kim enshrined the country’s status as a nuclear power in the constitution and fired several advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles.
At year-end policy meetings in Pyongyang, Kim threatened a nuclear attack on the South and called for a build-up of his country’s military arsenal ahead of an armed conflict that he warned could “break out at any time.” ‘.
Kim also successfully launched a spy satellite into orbit late last year after receiving Russian help in exchange for arms transfers for the war in Moscow, according to Seoul.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that the North Korea-supplied missiles were fired at the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on January 6.
The White House last week released US intelligence findings that the Russians had fired missiles supplied by North Korea into Ukraine on January 2 and December 30.
Kirby said the U.S. would raise the issue at Wednesday’s U.N. Security Council meeting, underscoring that the transfer of ballistic missiles from North Korea is in “direct violation” of multiple U.N. resolutions.
Russia, a permanent member of the UN Council, supported these resolutions.
This undated photo provided on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, his daughter and an official watch shows an intercontinental ballistic missile being launched from an undisclosed location in North -Korea.
Kim watches a rocket launch during a test in December
Kim enshrined the country’s status as a nuclear power in the constitution and fired several advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles
In a joint statement, top diplomats from 48 countries, including South Korea, the US, Japan and the EU, said they condemn in the strongest possible terms North Korea’s missile exports and Russia’s use of these weapons against Ukraine.
“The transfer of these weapons increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, supports Russia’s war of aggression and undermines the global non-proliferation regime,” the statement said.
In a phone call Tuesday, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and his South Korean counterpart Chang Ho-jin condemned the reported missile transfer.
According to the White House, they also pledged to continue close cooperation in support of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.