Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened to use nuclear weapons to 'destroy' its arch-rival South Korea permanently if its sovereignty was breached, according to state-run media, after the South's leader threatened to end Kim's regime if he attempted to use nuclear weapons. The exchange of such heated remarks, while nothing new, came amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang's continuation of missile tests and disclosure of a nuclear facility.
Kim criticised South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for threatening to end the North Korean regime at a military day event on Tuesday, saying the comment showed which side was destroying regional security and peace. He said his country would not hesitate to use all offensive forces if the enemy attempted to encroach on its sovereignty.
Kim said Yoon "bragged about overwhelming counteraction of military muscle at the doorstep of the state possessed of nuclear weapons and it was a great irony that caused the suspicion of being an abnormal man," according to the Korean Central News Agency. He said if the enemy "seized with extreme foolishness and recklessness" attempted to breach North Korea, the "permanent existence of Seoul and the Republic of Korea would be impossible".
What did South Korean President say about the North?
Kim's statement was a response to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's speech at his country's Armed Forces Day on Tuesday, where he unveiled the country's Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile and other conventional weapons that could target North Korea. Yoon said the day that North Korea tries to use nuclear weapons would be the end of the Kim government because Kim would face "the resolute and overwhelming response" of the South Korean-US alliance.
“If North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face the resolute and overwhelming response of our military and the (South Korea)-US alliance,” President Yoon Suk Yeol told thousands of troops. “That day will be the end of the North Korean regime... The North Korean regime must abandon the delusion that nuclear weapons will protect them," he said.
Kim said "the enemies' threatening rhetoric, action, trick and attempt did not check the DPRK's powerful military strength and will not take away our nuclear weapons forever." North Korea has for decades pursued a nuclear weapons programme and is believed to have enough fissile materials to build dozens of such weapons. It has conducted six underground nuclear detonation tests.
North-South Korea tensions
Animosities between the Koreas are at the worst point in years with Kim's provocative run of missile tests and the South Korean-US military exercises intensifying in a cycle of tit-for-tat. All communication channels and exchange programmes between the rivals have remained stalled since 2019, when a US-North Korea diplomatic effort collapsed.
In January, Kim called for rewriting North Korea's constitution to eliminate the idea of a peaceful unification between the war-divided countries and to cement the South as an "invariable principal enemy". He also reiterated that his country does not recognise the Northern Limit Line, a western sea boundary that was drawn by the US-led UN Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Since adopting an escalatory nuclear doctrine in 2022, Kim has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons preemptively, even though many foreign experts say it is still unlikely that he would use his nuclear arms first because his military is outmatched by the US and its allied forces. In July, South Korea and the US signed a defence guideline on integrating South Korea's conventional capabilities with the US nuclear forces to better deal with North Korea's advancing nuclear programme.
(with inputs from agencies)
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