North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has issued a stark warning, threatening to use nuclear weapons and permanently destroy South Korea if provoked, according to state media reports on Friday.
This comes after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol cautioned that Kim’s regime would face collapse if it attempted to deploy nuclear weapons.
While the exchange of fiery rhetoric between the two Koreas is not new, these latest threats come amid heightened tensions following North Korea’s recent revelation of a nuclear facility and continued missile tests.
Observers predict that next week, North Korea’s parliament will formally declare a hostile “two-state” system, reinforcing the divide with South Korea and rejecting any prospects of reconciliation.
During a visit to a special operations unit on Wednesday, Kim made it clear that his military would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons and all other offensive capabilities if South Korea infringes on North Korean sovereignty.
“The permanent existence of Seoul and the Republic of Korea would be impossible,” Kim reportedly said, using South Korea’s official name.
His remarks were in response to President Yoon’s speech on Armed Forces Day, where Yoon unveiled South Korea’s latest weapons, including the powerful Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile.
In his speech, Yoon warned that any attempt by North Korea to use nuclear arms would spell the end of Kim’s regime, emphasizing the “resolute and overwhelming response” from the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
Kim criticized Yoon’s remarks, labeling him “an abnormal man” and accusing him of boasting about military might against a nuclear-armed state.
Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, also derided South Korea’s military showcase, arguing that conventional weapons like the Hyunmoo-5 would be no match for North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.
Since North Korea adopted a more aggressive nuclear policy in 2022, Kim has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons preemptively, though experts doubt he would act first due to the overwhelming military power of the U.S. and its allies.
The South Korea-U.S. alliance, solidified by a defense agreement in July, integrates South Korea’s conventional military capabilities with U.S. nuclear forces to counter North Korea’s growing threat.
Despite South Korea’s lack of nuclear weapons, the agreement aims to strengthen deterrence against the North.
Relations between the two Koreas are currently at their lowest in years. Communication between the nations has been stalled since 2019, after U.S.-North Korea talks aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear program fell apart.
Earlier this year, Kim called for changes to North Korea’s constitution to eliminate any reference to peaceful reunification, declaring South Korea as the “principal enemy.”
He also rejected the Northern Limit Line, a sea boundary established at the end of the Korean War, and proposed a new constitutional definition of North Korea’s territorial waters that challenges South Korean control.
In an unusual development, South Korea reported on Friday that North Korea had resumed sending balloons across the border, likely carrying trash.
This tactic, which began in late May, has led South Korea to restart anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker broadcasts near the border.
