According to the constitution, South Korea is North Korea’s “number one enemy.” Kim Jong-un threatens and Seoul responds, promising an “overwhelming response” in the event of a provocation. The tension rises in a question and answer that is in some ways surprising. If Pyongyang's proclamation does not deviate from the hermit kingdom's traditional rhetoric, the signal from Seoul is emphatic: “This government – the South Korean embassy – is different.”
What Kim Jong-un said
In a speech in parliament, official media reported, Kim reiterated that “reunification” was not possible and declared that terms such as “independence, peaceful reunification and great national unity” must be “deleted” from the constitution. “We don’t want war, but we don’t want to avoid it either”said Kim, as reported by the Chongnyon Chonwi newspaper. And according to the North Korean leader, a constitutional change is needed to give North Koreans “the firm idea that the Republic of Korea is their greatest enemy, their main constant enemy.”
Meanwhile, the Supreme People's Assembly approved the abolition of the bodies for dialogue with South Korea (the Committee for Peaceful Reunification, the National Economic Cooperation Office and the Kumgangsan Tourism Association). A statement from the KCNA agency said: “The reunification of Korea can never take place with South Korea, which has made 'unification through absorption' and 'unification under liberal democracy' a state policy,” which is seen as “completely against our line.” national reunification on the basis of one nation, one state and two systems.
Therefore, it was a “grave mistake” for the Assembly to continue to view Seoul as a “partner for reconciliation and reunification” due to its decision to declare Pyongyang the “main enemy” and its alliance with “external forces,” the United States First.
According to Kim, “the hysteria of confrontation between enemy forces has brought the situation to an extreme level” and “our country's security environment has steadily deteriorated” and “today it has become the most dangerous area in the world with the risk of outbreak of war”. The North Korean leader did not spare the US from accusations, including for statements about the “end of our regime” and for the “incessant military exercises” with South Korea and Japan.
Seus's answer
Kim's words left a mark and triggered an immediate reaction in Seoul. South Korea will take “far greater” retaliatory measures against North Korea in the event of a “provocation,” South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol assured.
“The current government of South Korea – warned Yoon – is different from previous ones. Our army has a large, overwhelming response capability. If North Korea provokes, we will punish much harsher,” Yoon said, quoted by Yonhap.
However, despite the increasing tensions between the parties, the South Korean president recalled that the North Korean and South Korean people are “one and the same” and have “the same right to freedom, human rights and prosperity.”