State media reported on Friday that Kim Jong Un told North Korean troops that the South is a “foreign” country, adding that Pyongyang has rejected any idea of ​​reunification.
Despite officially being at war, the two Koreas have long defined relations as “special relations”, not state-to-state relations, with a view to eventual reunification.
But Kim in January defined Seoul as his country’s “major enemy”, and on Friday described relations with the South as a “bad relationship” that ended with the eruption of roads between the two.
After months of laying new mines and stepping up border security, Pyongyang this week blew up roads and railways linking it to the south, saying its constitution now defined the south as a “hostile” state. Is.
Reading North Korea’s constitution changed, now South Korea is called a ‘hostile state’
“Our military must once again take into account the harsh fact that (South Korea) is a foreign country and an outspoken enemy country,” Kim told the Korean People’s Army’s 2nd Corps, according to state media.
Mobilizing roads and railways this week means “an end to the bad relationship with Seoul,” Kim said, as well as “completely removing the unreasonable idea of ​​reunification.”
The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that if necessary, the North’s military would retaliate “against a hostile country, not fellow countrymen.”
The North held a crucial meeting of its rubber-stamp parliament last week, where experts widely expected the constitution to be amended.
On Thursday, Kim also examined “important documents” outlining the North’s military action plans to deal with various developments in the situation, KCNA said.
Pyongyang’s official newspaper Rodong Sinmun published photos of Kim issuing orders in front of a large, blurry map while high-ranking officials diligently took notes.
The current armistice agreement, which ended active fighting in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953, is “akin to an armistice between two systems that lay claim to the entire Korean Peninsula,” said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification. Said. ,
Reading Why is North Korea blowing up roads and railways in the South?
But “this system may lose its relevance” as North Korea changes the way it thinks about its borders, he told AFP.
“Such a change would represent a transition from a temporary military demarcation line under a ceasefire to a formal border system between nations,” he said.
Copyright dispute?
South Korea’s military on Tuesday released video footage of North Korean troops destroying roads and railways, and Seoul later said it appeared Pyongyang had used the footage in state media.
Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader’s powerful sister and chief regime spokeswoman, said the image in question was “a screenshot of one of the video clips released by NBC, Fox News, Reuters and other foreign media.”
All foreign media based in Seoul received footage from the South Korean military.
Citing an investigation, Kim Yo Jong accused South Korean media outlets, including the official Yonhap news agency, of using images from Pyongyang’s state media without permission.
He said in a statement carried by KCNA that the North would investigate.
Seoul’s Unification Ministry said Friday that all South Korean “media companies legally use the Korean Central News Agency’s materials by paying royalties through Japanese intermediaries,” deputy spokesperson Kim In-ae told a briefing. .
“We make it clear that it is North Korea that is using our materials illegally,” Kim said. “As a member of the Berne Convention, North Korea must demonstrate a responsible attitude,” he said, referring to the agreement created between member countries to protect copyright works from infringement.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
