As it declared an end to fighting in the Korean War, North Korea vowed to “totally annihilate” its enemies in the event of war if ordered by leader Kim Jong Un, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday.
The Korean Central News Agency said senior military officials, including Colonel Ri Ung Ryong and Lt. Colonel Yoo Kyong Song, made the remarks “out of growing hatred” toward the United States and South Korea at a meeting on Saturday attended by Kim to mark the 71st anniversary of the Korean War armistice.
North Korea and the United States do not have diplomatic ties and talks on easing tensions and denuclearizing North Korea have been stalled since 2019. North Korean state media said recently that it expected the situation to remain the same no matter who is next elected to the White House.
Military officials accused the United States and South Korea of being “persistent in provoking nuclear war” and vowed to strengthen warfare efficiency so as to “launch an overwhelming attack on the enemy without delay and completely annihilate it whenever the respected commander-in-chief, Kim Jong Un, gives the order.”
North Korea signed an armistice with the United States and China on July 27, 1953, ending hostilities in a war that had lasted three years. US generals signed the agreement on behalf of the United Nations forces supporting South Korea.
North Korea calls the date “Victory Day,” but South Korea does not celebrate it with any major events. Hostilities ended with a ceasefire, not a treaty, so the two countries are technically still at war.
