North Korea has declared South Korea a “hostile state”, North Korea’s state news agency KCNA said on Thursday, the 16th of October, confirming that its National Assembly had amended the constitution in line with its leader Kim Jong Un’s pledge to drop unification as a national goal, reports Reuters.
North Korea’s military on Tuesday blew up road and rail links with South Korea.
North Korea’s KCNA reported that sixty-metre sections of road and rail on the northern side of the border are now completely blocked as part of a “gradual complete separation” from South Korea, saying it was a legitimate action against a hostile state.
“This is an inevitable and lawful measure taken in accordance with the requirement of the DPRK constitution, which clearly defines the Republic of Korea as a hostile state,”
the KCNA said, using the official names of North and South Korea – the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea, respectively.
KCNA quoted a Ministry of Defence spokesman as saying that the country would take further measures to “permanently strengthen the closed southern border”, but did not mention any other constitutional changes ordered by leader Kim Jong Un.
South Korea “strongly condemns” the constitutional changes and its declaration as a hostile state and will not back down from its efforts to achieve peaceful reunification, said the South Korean Unification Ministry, which is responsible for relations with North Korea.
In January, Kim called for a constitutional amendment to end reunification as a goal in relations with the South, accusing Seoul of collaborating with the US to achieve the collapse of his communist regime and clearly define its territory.
Tensions between the rivals have escalated since last year, with both sides declaring that an agreement signed in 2018 to reduce military tensions was no longer valid.
North Korea has escalated its hostile rhetoric in recent days, accusing South Korea of drone strikes and vowing retaliation. South Korea has not confirmed the drone claims, but fired warning shots after North Korea destroyed roads and railways along the border.