Pyongyang: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has issued a stark warning of nuclear retaliation against South Korea, threatening to obliterate the country if provoked, as reported by state media on Friday. This announcement follows South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s assertion that Kim’s regime would face imminent collapse if it attempted to employ nuclear weapons. Such hostile exchanges between the two Koreas are not unprecedented, yet these latest remarks arrive amid escalating tensions over North Korea’s recent revelation of a nuclear facility and its ongoing missile tests.
Next week, analysts anticipate that North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament will constitutionally formalize a hostile “two-state” system on the Korean Peninsula, which would effectively dismiss any prospects for reconciliation with South Korea while codifying new national borders.
During a visit to a special operations forces unit on Wednesday, Kim asserted that his military “would use without hesitation all the offensive forces it possesses, including nuclear weapons,” should South Korea attempt any armed incursion upon North Korean sovereignty, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.
“If such a situation comes, the permanent existence of Seoul and the Republic of Korea would be impossible,” Kim stated, using South Korea’s official name.
Kim’s threats came as a direct response to President Yoon’s address during South Korea’s Armed Forces Day on Tuesday. In his speech, Yoon unveiled the country’s most advanced Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile alongside other conventional arms designed to target North Korea. He proclaimed that any nuclear aggression from the North would signify the end of Kim’s regime, as he would encounter “the resolute and overwhelming response” from the South Korean-U.S. alliance.
Kim retorted that Yoon’s remarks reflected a “bellicose temerity” and underscored the “security uneasiness and irritating psychology of the puppet forces.”
In a derogatory statement, Kim labeled Yoon “an abnormal man,” claiming that “the puppet Yoon bragged about an overwhelming counteraction of military muscle at the doorstep of a state that possesses nuclear weapons.” Following suit, Kim’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, mocked South Korea’s display of the Hyunmoo-5 missile, arguing that conventional weapons cannot match North Korea’s nuclear capabilities.
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Since implementing a more aggressive nuclear strategy in 2022, Kim has consistently threatened preemptive nuclear action. However, numerous foreign analysts remain skeptical that he would initiate such a strike first, considering the superior military strength of the U.S. and its allies. In July, South Korea and the U.S. established a defense guideline aimed at integrating South Korea’s conventional forces with U.S. nuclear capabilities to address the evolving North Korean nuclear threat, noting that South Korea does not possess nuclear weapons.
The animosity between the Koreas has reached unprecedented levels, fueled by North Korea’s series of missile tests and intensified military exercises conducted by South Korea and the U.S., creating a cycle of escalating tensions. Since 2019, all communication channels and exchange programs between the two nations have been effectively halted, following the collapse of broader U.S.-North Korea diplomacy aimed at curbing the North’s nuclear ambitions.
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Earlier this year, Kim called for a revision of North Korea’s constitution to eliminate the concept of peaceful unification between the two nations and to enshrine the South as an “invariable principal enemy.” He reiterated that his country does not recognize the Northern Limit Line, a maritime boundary established by the U.S.-led UN Command following the Korean War (1950-53), and advocated for the new constitution to define North Korea’s territorial claims clearly. Historically, North Korea has maintained a stance that encroaches significantly into waters currently under South Korean control.
On Friday, South Korea’s military reported that North Korea was once again sending balloons—likely filled with trash—across the border into South Korea. Since late May, North Korea has launched thousands of these refuse-carrying balloons, prompting South Korea to reactivate anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts in border regions.
