PYONGYANG, North Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a stark warning on Friday, October 4, 2024, threatening to use nuclear weapons against South Korea if provoked, according to state media reports.
Kim’s latest remarks follow South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s recent statement, in which he warned that Kim’s regime would collapse if it attempted to deploy nuclear arms.
The exchange comes during a period of heightened tension between the two Koreas. North Korea has recently disclosed details of a secretive nuclear facility and continues to conduct missile tests.
Observers expect that next week, North Korea’s parliament will formally declare a hostile “two-state” system on the Korean Peninsula, further rejecting reconciliation efforts and redefining national borders.
During a visit to a special operations forces unit on Wednesday, Kim reportedly vowed to use “all the offensive forces it possesses, including nuclear weapons” in response to any perceived South Korean threat.
“If such a situation comes, the permanent existence of Seoul and the Republic of Korea would be impossible,” Kim said, according to North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Kim’s remarks were in direct response to President Yoon’s Armed Forces Day speech on Tuesday.
In that address, Yoon unveiled South Korea’s most powerful ballistic missile, the Hyunmoo-5, and stated that any North Korean attempt to use nuclear weapons would result in the “resolute and overwhelming response” of the South Korean-U.S. military alliance.
Kim derided Yoon’s comments as a display of “bellicose temerity” and accused him of displaying “the security uneasiness and irritating psychology of the puppet forces.”
In an additional insult, Kim referred to Yoon as “an abnormal man,” mocking the South Korean leader for boasting about conventional weapons in the face of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.
Kim Yo Jong, Kim’s sister and a senior official, also weighed in, dismissing South Korea’s Hyunmoo-5 missile as an ineffective counter to North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.
North Korea has escalated its rhetoric since adopting a more aggressive nuclear policy in 2022, frequently threatening preemptive nuclear strikes.
However, many experts believe that Kim is unlikely to initiate a nuclear conflict, given the overwhelming military power of the U.S. and its allies.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been at their highest in years, exacerbated by North Korea’s continued missile launches and joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States.
Diplomatic communication channels between the two Koreas have been frozen since 2019, when U.S.-North Korea negotiations over the North’s nuclear program collapsed.
Earlier this year, Kim called for changes to North Korea’s constitution, effectively ending the prospect of peaceful reunification with the South.
He emphasised South Korea as an “invariable principal enemy” and rejected the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime boundary between the two Koreas, which North Korea has never recognized.
Adding to the provocations, South Korea’s military reported that North Korea had resumed flying balloons, likely carrying trash, across the border.
Since May, North Korea has sent thousands of rubbish-filled balloons into South Korea, prompting South Korea to retaliate by restarting anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts along the border.
As tensions continue to rise, the region remains on edge, with both North and South Korea refusing to back down from their entrenched positions.
