North Korea is dismantling agencies responsible for managing South Korean relations after regime leader Kim Jong Un labeled South Korea the “primary enemy” of his country, state media said Tuesday.
The agencies include the National Committee for Peaceful Reunification, the National Economic Cooperation Bureau, and the Kumgangsan International Tourism Administration.
The North Korean regime said it had decided to shut down agencies promoting “north-south dialogue,” citing it would be a serious mistake to regard South Korea as a partner for reunification.
Kim Jong Un Suggests ‘Occupying’ South Korea in the Event of War
The decision was made as Kim demanded that his nation “completely eliminate” any notion of reunification or reconciliation with South Korea during a key parliamentary meeting on Monday.The regime leader proposed stipulating in the country’s constitution that North Korea could pursue “occupying, subjugating and reclaiming South Korea” in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula.
Kim urged the blocking of “all channels of north-south communication along the border,” including the cutting off of railway tracks and the tearing down of a monument honoring the pursuit of reunification.
The North Korean leader said that his regime has no intention of starting a war, but has no intention of avoiding one either. He warned that a war in the Korean Peninsula would end South Korea’s existence and bring an “unimaginable crushing defeat” to the United States.
Kim made similar remarks during a year-end ruling party meeting, saying that ties between the two Koreas have become “fixed into the relations between two states hostile to each other.”
In response, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said that Kim’s comments show the “anti-national and anti-historical” nature of the North Korean regime.
He said his country would continue to maintain firm defense readiness and that North Korea would be harshly punished “multiple times” if it provokes South Korea.
“[North Korea’s] fake peace tactic that threatened us to choose between ‘war’ and ‘peace’ no longer works,” he said during a cabinet meeting.
North Korea’s state media reported the launch, the country’s first ballistic test of 2024, after it was detected by South Korean and Japanese militaries the day before.
While the test was reportedly a success, state-run media provided no further details, including whether it was attended by the North Korean leader. Reports only divulged that the test was part of the country’s routine weapons development activities and posed no threat to the security of its neighbors.
According to South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff, the missile flew for about 600 miles before touching down in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
