North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned of the potential use of nuclear weapons against South Korea in the event of an attack, according to state media reports from Friday. This statement follows South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s warning that if the North employs nuclear weapons, it would face the end of its regime.
While this type of rhetoric is not new, it emerges during heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, shortly after North Korean state media shared images of Kim at a uranium enrichment facility capable of producing weapons-grade materials.
Kim speaks tough
During a visit to an army base in western North Korea on Wednesday, Kim indicated that if South Korea were to infringe upon North Korean sovereignty, Pyongyang would not hesitate to deploy all offensive capabilities, including nuclear weapons, as reported by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
He also suggested that if such a situation occurred, the survival of Seoul and the Republic of Korea would become impossible.
Tensions between the two leaders have escalated this year, particularly as North Korea appears to have intensified its nuclear production and strengthened ties with Russia, raising concerns in the West about the direction of the isolated nation.
Kim Jong Un likely responds to President Yoon
Kim’s remarks seemed to be a direct response to President Yoon, who showcased Seoul’s most advanced ballistic missile and other deterrent weapons during an Armed Forces Day parade on Tuesday.
Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, which concluded with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, North and South Korea have remained cut off from each other and are still technically at war.
Although both governments had previously aspired to peaceful reunification, Kim announced earlier this year that the North would no longer pursue that goal, designating the South as the “principal enemy” and dismantling a monument that symbolized unification.
North Korea is poised to rescind a key agreement that supports the potential for reunification as soon as Monday, when its legislature is expected to convene, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry.
Kim Jong Un tours nuclear facility
Last month, North Korean state media released images of Kim touring a nuclear facility, providing a rare look at the nation’s tightly controlled weapons program. Experts noted that the photos—featuring Kim surrounded by military personnel and lab-coated officials—highlight North Korea’s growing confidence as a nuclear power.
In response to potential threats from the North, South Korea has been expanding its military capabilities. On Tuesday, Yoon introduced the Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile, said to be capable of penetrating North Korean underground bunkers.
Yoon emphasized that if North Korea were to attempt nuclear aggression, it would encounter a decisive and overwhelming military response from South Korea and the United States. He asserted that the North Korean regime must abandon the belief that nuclear weapons would provide them with security.
US shows solidarity
In an apparent show of solidarity, a U.S. B-1B bomber flew over an Armed Forces Day ceremony on Tuesday in Seongnam, near Seoul.
On Wednesday, Kim referred to Yoon as a “puppet” and criticized him as “abnormal” for boasting about military strength in proximity to a nation armed with nuclear weapons, according to KCNA.
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