Kim Jong Un calls S Korea the 'main enemy', inter-Korean bodies scrapped

The North Korean leader outlined a radical change to inter-Korean relations in his latest address to the Supreme People's Assembly. The South is described as a hostile country, no longer home to countrymen. As a result, all bodies and agencies involved in relations between North and South will be scrapped.

Seoul (AsiaNews) – South Korea is North Korea’s “main enemy” said Kim Jong Un, words that express a radical change in relations between the two Koreas, no longer relying on bodies that seek to foster dialogue and reconciliation, in accordance with a vision of the Korean peninsula as one nation despite growing differences.

On Monday, the North Korean strongman addressed the Supreme People's Assembly, outlining the future of his regime’s policy towards the South.

“[N]orth-south relations have been completely fixed as the relations of two hostile and belligerent countries, not those of fellow countrymen and the same quality any longer,” Kim said in his speech, officially ending 80 years of inter-Korean policy based on the principle of possible reunification through reorganisation.

Now, South Korea is defined as a foreign state, abandoning the notion that North and South Koreans belong to the same people.

With such ideological orientation, Kim also announced the need to re-establish the borders within which North Korea can operate as a sovereign state.

In the short term, this will mainly concern the North Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border that separates two Koreas but which was never recognised by Pyongyang. In fact, while the 38th parallel is well defined by the clearly demarcated demilitarised zone, the same cannot be said for the islands in the Yellow (West) Sea.

Kim went on to say that the constitution must be amended as well to specify exactly where the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) “exercises sovereignty”, and reflect how it will “completely occupy, subjugate and restore ROK territory and incorporate it into DPRK territory” in the event of a war.

This raises the likelihood of armed conflict, especially after the main channels of communication between the two Koreas are no longer in use.

With the recognition of South Korea as a hostile country, several state bodies that hitherto dealt with inter-Korean relations and mediated between North and South have been eliminated.

These include the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, which has always been the official channel for talks (like South Korea's Unification Ministry), the Korean People’s Cooperation Administration, and the Kumgangsan International Tourism Administration, which oversaw tourism projects on Mount Kumgang.

The shutdown of communication channels is also likely to be accompanied by a reform of education in the country, Kim explained, to permanently instil the idea that South Korea is the main enemy and effectively wipe out what remains of a shared identity on the two sides of the border.

The change in North Korean policy towards the South comes at a critical time. With US elections approaching, this is not only a clear message to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, but also to the next president of the United States.

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