North Korea's Kim Jong Un orders troops to treat South Korea as 'hostile' foreign enemy

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reminded his troops to treat South Korea as a hostile foreign enemy and insisted that the North wouldn’t hesitate to attack its rival if the South infringes upon its sovereignty, state media said Friday.

Kim’s comments at an army headquarters came after North Korea this week confirmed that it revised its constitution to define South Korea as “a hostile state” and blew up front-line road and rail links that were once connected to the South.

The steps punctuated Kim’s calls for North Korea to abandon its longstanding goals of reconciling with the South and reflect his intent to escalate tensions and increase leverage amid a deepening stalemate in diplomacy. Analysts see increasing risks of possible clashes along the rivals’ tense border areas, although it would be highly unlikely for the North to contemplate full-scale attacks in the face of superior U.S. and South Korean forces.

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During a visit to the headquarters of the North Korean People’s Army’s 2nd Corps on Thursday, Kim stressed to troops the importance of understanding that any use of offensive force against the South would constitute a “legitimate retaliatory action against the hostile country, not the fellow countrymen.”

He said the North’s detonation of the border road and rail sections on Tuesday demonstrated the North’s resolve to cut off persistent “evil” relations with the South, which “lasted century after century and the complete removal of the useless awareness about fellow countrymen and the unreasonable idea of reunification.”

He said the event was also a declaration that his troops wouldn’t hesitate to use physical force against the South, an “apparent hostile country,” if it violates North Korea’s sovereignty, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

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South Korea had no immediate comment on Kim’s remarks.

North Korea has been making increasingly provocative threats against rival South Korea in recent weeks, including accusing the South of infiltrating drones to drop anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang this month and threatening to attack if it happens again. South Korea has refused to confirm whether it sent drones but warned that North Korea will face an overwhelming response that would “end its regime” if the safety of South Korean citizens is threatened.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have spiked since 2022, as Kim used Russia’s war on Ukraine as a window to dial up his weapons testing activities and threats. Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have strengthened their combined military exercises in response and took steps to sharpen their nuclear deterrence strategies built around strategic U.S. assets.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told the Associated Press earlier this month that North Korea will likely attempt to ramp up pressure with major provocations around the U.S. presidential elections in November, possibly including a long-range missile test or a nuclear test detonation, to grab Washington’s attention.