The North Korean leader stressed that his country would not recognize the de facto maritime border between the two countries, the Northern Boundary Line, and called for constitutional changes that would allow Pyongyang to “occupy” South Korea in the event of war, North Korea's KCNA news agency reported.
In Seoul, President Yoon Suk Yeol responded that South Korea would “hit back a hundredfold” to any provocation from the North, emphasizing the “overwhelming responsiveness” of the South Korean military.
“The most hostile country”
This verbal escalation follows relations between the two Koreas deteriorating to their lowest level in decades, particularly after Pyongyang launched a spy satellite in November and suspended a 2018 military deal aimed at easing tensions.
The North Korean parliament has approved the dissolution of several agencies promoting reunification with South Korea. The two countries “are in acute confrontation on the Korean Peninsula” and “the reunification of Korea with the Republic of Korea can never be completed,” the North Korean parliament stressed, according to KCNA. The neighboring countries have technically still been at war since 1953, with fighting ended by a ceasefire rather than a peace treaty.
In a speech to the Supreme People's Assembly, the North Korean leader called for new measures to define South Korea as “the most hostile country,” KCNA reported. “In my opinion, we can specify in our constitution the issue of the complete occupation, subjugation and reconquest of the Republic of Korea and its annexation as part of the territory of our republic in the event of a war on the Korean Peninsula,” Kim Jong Un said.
“If the Republic of Korea violates even 0.001 mm of our territory, air or sea space, it will be considered a provocation to war,” he stressed. Kim Jong Un reiterated in early January that South Korea was the North's “main enemy” and that efforts at reunification were a mistake “that should not be made again.” In their respective constitutions, South and North Korea claim sovereignty over the entire Korean peninsula. They view each other as an illegal entity.
“Reckless” measures
The sparse contacts between the two countries, which served as diplomatic relations, were managed by the South Korean Unification Ministry and the North Korean Committee for Peaceful Reunification, two organizations closed by Pyongyang, until the dissolution of the North Korean agencies.
North Korea's new measures against Seoul are “reckless” and break with the approach seen for years, analysts said. “Now (Kim Jong Un) denies everything his predecessors did,” noted Cho Han-bum, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, referring to the country’s founder.