SEOUL, Oct. 18 (UPI) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called South Korea a “foreign country” and rejected the goal of reunification, state media reported Friday, days after Pyongyang blew up sections of roads and railways connecting it with the South.
Kim made the remarks during an inspection of the headquarters of the 2nd Corps of the Korean People’s Army on Thursday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
“He stressed that our army should keep in mind once again the stark fact that the ROK is a foreign country and an apparent hostile country,” KCNA reported, using the official acronym for South Korea.
Kim called the blasting of the roads, once seen as a symbol of improving relations between the two Koreas, “the physical closure but also the end of the evil relationship with Seoul, which persistently lasted century after century.”
He added that the detonations would completely remove the “unreasonable idea of reunification.”
On Thursday, state media reported that North Korea’s Constitution now defines South Korea as a “hostile state” in the first indication of changes made during a parliamentary meeting last week.
Kim called the South the “invariable principal enemy” earlier this year and publicly called for a constitutional change rejecting the long-held official goal of reunification.
Tensions have sparked on the peninsula in recent days, with North Korea accusing the South of flying drones over Pyongyang and announcing that orders were given for eight artillery brigades along the border to be on standby to open fire.
During the inspection, Kim said that the destruction of the roads was “the last declaration that when the DPRK’s sovereignty is violated by the ROK, a hostile country, its physical forces will be used unhesitatingly, without sticking to conditions any longer.”
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.
Kim also cited the need for North Korea to continue bolstering its nuclear weapons capacity in response to the U.S.-South Korea military alliance.
“The impact of the changed nature of the ROK-U.S. alliance and the more developed different enemy military maneuvers of aggressive nature on the DPRK’s security more clearly highlights the importance of strengthening its nuclear deterrent and proves its validity,” Kim said.
Pyongyang has not conducted a nuclear test since 2017, but raised international concerns after showing off a weapons-grade enriched uranium facility last month as Kim called for an exponential increase in the North’s nuclear arsenal.
North Korea is banned from developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles under multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Russia used its veto power in March to end the mandate of the Panel of Experts, which monitored and reported on sanctions violations, amid growing military ties with Pyongyang.
On Wednesday, the United States, South Korea and nine other countries announced a new multilateral monitoring team in an attempt to help implement the sanctions.
