The tone rises north of 38e parallel. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for a stronger nuclear deterrent and reiterated he would not hesitate to “annihilate” South Korea, described as “main enemy” of the country, state media reported on Wednesday January 10.
Mr. Kim, accompanied by senior party and military officials, visited several munitions factories on Monday and Tuesday. He declared on this occasion that Pyongyang’s objective must be to “strengthen military self-defense capabilities and nuclear deterrence in the first place”according to the official KCNA agency.
Images broadcast by state media showed the North Korean leader dressed in a long black leather jacket standing in front of what analysts said were short-range ballistic missile launchers, believed to be nuclear-capable.
North Korea will not trigger “unilaterally” a conflict, said the North Korean number one, according to KCNA, but did not “no intention of avoiding a war either”. “The historic moment has finally come when we should define [la Corée du Sud] as the state most hostile to [Corée du Nord] »Mr. Kim further assured.
Live ammunition artillery exercises
The two Koreas are still technically at war since the end of the conflict in 1953 which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. For more than seventy years, the peninsula has experienced alternating periods of tension and relative relaxation. But their relationship is at its lowest point in decades.
The statements follow recent live artillery drills by the North Korean military near the disputed maritime border, which resulted in evacuation orders and counter-drills. The maneuvers that began Friday represent one of the biggest escalations in tensions between the two sides since 2010, when Pyongyang bombed the island of Yeonpyeong, killing four people.
” If the [Corée du Sud] dare to try to use [ses] armed forces against [Corée du Nord] or threaten its sovereignty and security, (…) we will have no hesitation [l’]annihilate by mobilizing all means and forces” in our possession, warned Mr. Kim, according to the official agency.
These comments mark a shift in North Korean policy and suggest that Pyongyang will adopt a more “much harder position” towards Seoul, Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
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“This is the first time that the North has called the South the main enemy, which means that North Korea’s approach towards Seoul is shifting towards an ultra-aggressive mode”he added.
Last year, North Korea enshrined its status as a nuclear power in its constitution and fired several intercontinental ballistic missiles, in violation of UN resolutions.
The United States, South Korea and even Japan accuse Pyongyang of violating international sanctions by sending missiles to Russia, at war with Ukraine. North Korea successfully put a spy satellite into orbit late last year, after receiving, according to Seoul, help from Russia in exchange for arms transfers.