North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called on Monday for a constitutional change to have South Korea be deemed the “main enemy” and warned that his country has no plans to avoid war if it happens, according to a report by state media KCNA on Tuesday, the 16th of January, reports Reuters.
In a speech to North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly, Kim Jong Un said reunification with the South was no longer possible, as he accused Seoul of seeking the collapse of the regime and unification by absorption.
He stressed that the constitution should be amended to educate North Koreans that South Korea is the “main enemy and unchanged main opponent” and to separate North Korean territory from South Korea.
In the event of a conflict, he called on North Korea to plan for the complete occupation and takeover of South Korea.
Kim also called for an end to the practice of referring to South Koreans as countrymen, advocated a halt to all communication between the countries and proposed the destruction of the Monument to Unification in Pyongyang.
The state media added that three organisations dealing with the restoration of cooperation and reunification and inter-Korean tourism would also be closed down.
South Korean President Yun Suk Yool told a cabinet meeting that Pyongyang was acting “anti-nationally” by calling South Korea a hostile country, according to Reuters.
Kim Jong-un’s call for constitutional change coincides with rising tensions on the peninsula, marked by missile tests and Pyongyang’s change of attitude towards South Korea.
Kim’s speech, according to Professor Lim Eul-chul of Kyungnam University, shows that his rhetoric towards South Korea and the US is aimed at maintaining internal unity and achieving economic and military goals by taking advantage of the US distraction.
In contrast, Won Gon Park of the Ehwa Womans University believes that Kim feels threatened by the intensification of nuclear deterrence, the deployment of US strategic forces and the trilateral military effort with Japan.
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