Worrying verbal escalation between the leaders of North and South Korea

The tone between the two Koreas continues to rise. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatened Seoul with war over any violations “Even just 0.001 mm” from North Korean territory, according to North Korean news agency KCNA. He also asserted that his country would not recognize the de facto maritime border between the two countries, the Northern Limit Line, and called for constitutional changes that would allow Pyongyang.“possess” South Korea at war.

In Seoul, President Yun Suk-yeol responded that South Korea “A Hundredfold Revenge” For any provocation from the North, stress on “Overwhelming response capabilities” of his army. The two neighboring countries are technically still at war since 1953, the war was stopped by an armistice and not a peace treaty.

The verbal escalation follows a deterioration in relations between the two countries, which are at their lowest level in decades, especially after Pyongyang’s launch of a spy satellite in November and Seoul’s suspension of a 2018 military agreement aimed at ‘calming tensions’.

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Dissolution of North Korean agencies responsible for dialogue with Seoul

Tuesday 16 January was also marked by the North Korean parliament announcing the dissolution of several agencies working for dialogue and reunification with the South.

“The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, the Office of National Economic Cooperation and the International Tourism Administration, existing instruments for dialogue, negotiation and cooperation (North-South) have been abolished”The Supreme People’s Assembly declared, adding that the North would take over the government “Practical Steps” To implement this decision.

Parliament declares that the two Koreas are now a “Severe Confrontation” And if the North treats the South as a diplomatic partner, it will make a serious mistake.

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In a speech to the assembly, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un blamed South Korea and the United States for escalating tensions in the region. He said it had become impossible for the North to pursue reconciliation and peaceful reunification with the South, and called on parliament to rewrite the North’s constitution when it next meets to define South Korea. “The First Enemy Country in the North”

According to KCNA.

Pace of military preparations

North Korea’s constitution, like South Korea’s, claims sovereignty over the entire Korean peninsula. Promulgated seventy years ago, they consider each other illegal entities.

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The flimsy contacts between them, serving as diplomatic ties, were managed by South Korea’s Unification Ministry and the North Korean Committee for Peaceful Reunification, one of the organizations shut down by Pyongyang. The National Economic Cooperation Office and the Mount Kumgang International Tourism Administration were established to manage joint economic and tourism projects between the Koreas during a brief period of reconciliation in the 2000s. These projects were interrupted as relations between the rivals worsened due to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. , which were prohibited by UN Security Council resolutions.

Mr. Kim has stepped up his weapons display in recent months. The United States and its allies Seoul and Tokyo responded by stepping up their joint military exercises, which Kim denounced as a rehearsal for an invasion, and refining their nuclear deterrence strategies.

In late December, Kim Jong-un ordered military preparations to be accelerated “war”

you can “Trigger at any time”. On Wednesday, he described South Korea “Chief Enemy” of the country, that he would not hesitate “destroy”

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Le Monde with AP and AFP