North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has declared he may completely destroy South Korea if the security of his country is threatened, and has ceased to consider South Korean citizens as his compatriots. The escalating rhetoric from Pyongyang underscores growing tensions in the region and raises concerns about the future of inter-Korean relations.
Kim also reiterated his lack of interest in dialogue with Seoul, while leaving the possibility of talks with Washington open, but only if the United States recognizes North Korea as a nuclear power. He called for the development of new weapons systems and an expansion of the country’s nuclear arsenal, according to state media reports.
The announcements came as Kim concluded a five-day ruling party congress on Wednesday, outlining his political goals for the next five years. A large military parade was held in the capital, Pyongyang, during the congress, featuring flags of Russia, with whom North Korea has strengthened ties in recent years. Kim’s daughter, believed to be around 13 years old and seen by some as a potential successor, also attended the parade.
Kim urged the development of new weapons systems to bolster the military, including submarine-launched ballistic missiles. He also wants to deploy attack drones and expand the arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons, such as artillery and short-range rockets, targeting its southern neighbor.
In a particularly harsh statement, Kim declared that North Korea would “forever” sever ties with South Korea, stating, “North Korea has absolutely nothing in common with South Korea, its worst enemy, and forever excludes it from the category of the nation’s compatriots,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He dismissed recent conciliatory initiatives from Seoul as deceptive, accusing the South Korean government of attempting to destabilize the North.
South Korea’s Ministry of Unification expressed regret over the North’s statement, despite its increasingly hostile tone, and affirmed it will continue to pursue peaceful coexistence. Seoul also stated it will strive for future shared prosperity and mutual existence with North Korea, urging both countries to refrain from hostile and confrontational rhetoric, according to presidential office officials.
“If the United States respects the current status of our country as a nuclear power and abandons its hostile policy, there is no reason why we cannot get along well with the United States,” Kim said, according to the Associated Press. He considers U.S. Pressure and sanctions related to his nuclear ambitions to be hostile policies. “The prospects for relations between the United States and North Korea entirely depend on the position of the U.S. Whether We see peaceful coexistence or a permanent confrontation, we are prepared for both, and the choice is not ours,” he added.
Pyongyang has repeatedly rejected calls from Washington to denuclearize, and is willing to resume talks if the U.S. Ceases to demand it do so. Analysts suggest Kim aims to secure sanctions relief from the U.S. And tacit recognition of North Korea as a nuclear power.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump met with Kim three times between 2018 and 2019 to discuss denuclearization, but the talks ultimately failed to halt North Korea’s nuclear program, and communication between the two countries has since stalled.
Relations between the two Koreas, which remain technically at war since the signing of an armistice in 1953, have deteriorated since 2023. In January 2024, North Korea called for a constitutional amendment to remove the goal of reunification with the South. In October, it blew up a road near Kaesong that connected the two states and dug trenches across roads and railways. North Korea then added to its constitution on October 17th a designation of South Korea as an enemy state. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has made several overtures to reduce tensions and restore dialogue with the North since taking office in June of last year.
However, Pyongyang has not responded to calls for improved relations and has instead strengthened ties with Russia, which launched a military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. North Korea has reportedly provided Russia with munitions and thousands of soldiers, receiving financial aid, military technology, and supplies of food and energy in return.
