North Korea dissolves agencies working for reunification with South

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatened Seoul with war over any violations “even if only by 0.001 mm” of the territory of North Korea, according to official media, after announcing the dissolution of the agencies responsible for reunification with South Korea. The North Korean leader stressed that his country would not recognize the de facto maritime border between the two countries, the Northern Boundary Line, and called for constitutional changes allowing Pyongyang to“to occupy” South Korea in the event of war, reported the North Korean news agency KCNA.

In Seoul, President Yoon Suk-yeol responded that South Korea “would retaliate a hundredfold” to any provocation from the North, emphasizing the “overwhelming response capabilities” of the South Korean army. This verbal escalation follows a deterioration in relations between the two Koreas, at their lowest level in decades, after, in particular, the launch in November by Pyongyang of a spy satellite and the suspension by Seoul of a 2018 military agreement aimed at to ease tensions.

“Main enemy”

The dissolution of several agencies working for reunification with South Korea has been approved by the North Korean Parliament. The two countries “are in acute confrontation on the Korean peninsula” And “Korean reunification can never be concluded with the Republic of Korea”, estimated the North Korean Parliament, according to KCNA. The two countries have still technically been at war since 1953, the fighting having been stopped by an armistice and not a peace treaty.

In a speech to the Supreme People’s Assembly, the North Korean leader called for new measures to define South Korea as “the most hostile country”, KCNA reported. Kim Jong-un said in early January that South Korea was the “main enemy” of the North and that the efforts for reunification were a mistake “not to commit again”.