Kim Jong-un has made strong statements against South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, calling him “abnormal” and a “puppet” while issuing a chilling warning of using nuclear weapons without hesitation in the event of a nuclear conflict. The North Korean leader conveyed this message during a visit to a training base of the special operation units of the North Korean army, where he stated that the “permanent existence” of Seoul would be impossible in such a scenario, as reported by state media KCNA.
This comes following President Yoon’s speech at the Armed Forces Day ceremony, where he pledged the “end of the North Korean regime” should Pyongyang deploy nuclear weapons. South Korea, in response, showcased its most powerful Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile and other conventional weaponry during a military parade, which Kim Jong-un viewed as a display of “bellicose temerity” and stated that it revealed the “security uneasiness and irritating psychology of the puppet forces”.
Kim Jong-un directly targeted President Yoon as he ridiculed him, labelling him as “an abnormal man” for boasting about military counteractions against a nuclear-armed nation. This direct attack is a rarity in Kim’s usually fiery rhetoric, with the last instance being in July 2022. The recent escalation in tensions comes amidst the disclosure of a North Korean nuclear facility and ongoing missile tests.
It is anticipated that North Korea’s parliament will formally declare a hostile “two-state” system on the Korean Peninsula, effectively rejecting reconciliation with South Korea and establishing new national borders. This move would involve the scrapping of a landmark inter-Korean agreement signed in 1991, after North Korea redefined their ties with the South as relations between “two states hostile to each other”.
The relationship between the two Koreas has been historically tumultuous, with periodic exchanges of belligerent rhetoric. However, this latest verbal confrontation carries significant weight given the heightened animosities and the impending parliamentary actions expected from North Korea.