Kim Jong-un does not intend to reduce tensions around the Korean peninsula. The leader of North Korea has in fact called for a reinforced nuclear deterrent and warned that he would not hesitate to “annihilate” South Korea, Pyongyang’s “main enemy”, state media reported this Wednesday .
Accompanied by senior party and military officials, the North Korean leader visited several munitions factories on Monday and Tuesday. He declared on this occasion that Pyongyang’s priority must be to “strengthen military self-defense capabilities and nuclear deterrence first and foremost,” according to the official KCNA agency.
Two countries still technically at war
North Korea will not “unilaterally” trigger a conflict, he explained, but “nor does it intend to avoid a war”. “If (South Korea) dares to attempt to use (its) armed forces against (North Korea) or threaten its sovereignty and security (…) we will have no hesitation to annihilate (South Korea) by mobilizing all the means and forces” in our possession, warned Kim Jong-un according to the official agency.
The two Koreas are still technically at war since the end of the conflict in 1953 which ended with an armistice and not a peace treaty. For more than seventy years, the peninsula has experienced alternating periods of worsening tensions and relative relaxation. Their relationship is currently at its lowest point in decades.
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 Japan accuse Pyongyang of violating international sanctions by sending missiles to Russia, at war with Ukraine.