SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called South Korea “our principal enemy” and threatened to annihilate it if provoked…
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called South Korea “our principal enemy” and threatened to annihilate it if provoked, as he escalates his inflammatory, belligerent rhetoric against Seoul and the United States before their elections this year.
Kim’s threat comes as the White House said it has evidence that Russia has fired additional North Korean-provided ballistic missiles at Ukraine. The U.S., South Korea and their partners issued a statement Wednesday condemning both North Korea and Russia over the missile transfer.
Experts say Kim will likely further raise animosities with weapons tests to try to influence the results of South Korea’s parliamentary elections in April and the U.S. presidential election in November.
During tours of local munitions factories this week, Kim said it’s time to define South Korea “as a state most hostile toward” North Korea because of its long-running confrontational moves to topple the North’s social system. He said North Korea must subsequently bolster its nuclear war deterrent, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday.
If South Korea dares to use his military force against North Korea and threaten its sovereignty, Kim said “We will have no hesitation in annihilating (South Korea) by mobilizing all means and forces in our hands,” according to KCNA.
He has made similar such threats recently, and analysts say Kim likely hopes South Korean liberals seeking reconciliation with North Korea win the April elections.
