North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un on Monday called for the constitution to be rewritten to clearly state that South Korea is the “principal and unchangeable main enemy,” a move away from previous rhetoric calling for unification with South Korea. This is a major change.
Kim also abolished several institutions related to South Korea relations on Monday.
Kim Said His rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People's Assembly, claimed that unification with Korea had become impossible. He said the South Koreans were bent on weakening their own government and seizing control of the northern half of the peninsula.
Kim degraded Koreans are nothing more than “top-class stooges” of the United States and other foreign powers. He said South Koreans should no longer be referred to as North Koreans' alienated “compatriots” and that all lines of communication between the two countries should be cut off. He has effectively ordered the entire concept of “unification” to be erased from North Korea's national history.
“The final conclusion drawn from the bitter history of inter-Korean relations is that we cannot move forward together on the path of national restoration and reunification,'' he said.
Kim called for the constitution to be amended to state that in the event of war, North Korea's military should be prepared to “completely occupy, conquer and recapture” every corner of South Korea.
“We do not want war, but we will not avoid it,” the dictator said.
The Supreme People's Assembly agreed that North Korea and South Korea are in a “serious conflict” and that South Korea can no longer be considered a diplomatic partner. To achieve this objective, Congress resolved to dissolve several agencies, including the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, the National Economic Cooperation Agency, and the International Tourism Bureau. Although these agencies are not very active these days, they were once involved in projects such as inter-Korean tourism and a joint factory complex in the border city of Kaesong.
Satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies, June 22, 2020, show the inter-Korean liaison office building after it was blown up at a shuttered joint industrial complex in Kaesong, North Korea. North Korea blew up a heavily armed liaison office building just north of its border with South Korea on June 16, 2020, in a carefully orchestrated, largely symbolic expression of anger. (Maxar Technologies via AP)
Kim also ordered the destruction of a cross-border railway between North and South Korea and the destruction of a peace monument in Pyongyang, which he derided as an “eyesore”.
of monument in question The huge arch, called the “Monument to the Three Charters of Unification,” is being built on a road called the Unification Expressway, which runs from the capital Pyongyang to the border.
Built in 2001 at the behest of Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, the monument symbolically incorporates stones collected from all over the peninsula, and holds a unified Korea high in the sky. It depicts two angel-like Korean women. Until now, the building has been portrayed as important evidence of South Korea's ideals of peacefully healing the wounds of war, but to be brutally honest, Kim Jong Un's explanation of its aesthetic qualities is defensible. .
The “Three Charters of National Reunification” monument, symbolizing hopes for eventual unification of the North and South, is seen in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Saturday, June 15, 2013. (Alexander Yuan/AP)
Various media analysts agreed that Kim's remarks at the Supreme People's Assembly marked a historic shift in North Korea policy, but opinions about Kim's motives varied.
Some analysts thought he was promoting South Korea and the United States as external threats to distract the public from policy failures. Others believe he is conditioning his captive population for an all-out and brutal war against the South, perhaps because he feels threatened by international efforts to cover up his nuclear missile program. I was worried that it might happen.
Mr. Kim may also be reacting negatively to the government of South Korea's conservative President Yoon Seok-yeol. published Last year's defense white paper named North Korea as an “enemy” for the first time in five years. Yoon's left-wing predecessor, Moon Jae-in, took a more dovish approach, making every effort to forge friendly relations with North Korea, but with little success.
Yun Said On Tuesday, he was not intimidated by North Korea's threats.
“The current government of the Republic of Korea is different from previous governments. Our military has overwhelming response capabilities,'' he said. “If North Korea provokes us, we will punish them many times more severely.”
“The traditional false peace tactics of threatening a war-or-peace binary no longer work. The false peace we have gained by succumbing to the threat of provocation only puts our security at even greater risk.” said Yun, seemingly mockingly referring to President Moon's policy toward North Korea.
