Kim Jong Un has threatened to use nuclear weapons “without hesitation” if attacked by the South and its ally the United States, North Korean state media reported.
Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in decades, and Seoul this week hosted a military parade showing off its “monster” bunker-busting missile.
President Yoon Suk Yeol warned Kim that the use of nuclear weapons would mean the end of his regime because the dictator would face “the determined and overwhelming response” of the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
Pyongyang has also been bombarding the South with balloons carrying garbage bags, and a new burst was seen hovering over Seoul early Friday. Seoul’s military confirmed it had detected the balloon launches overnight.
If enemy forces were “invading the sovereignty” of the North, Pyongyang “would without hesitation use all the offensive forces it has possessed, including nuclear weapons,” Kim said, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
Kim Jong Un visits a special operations forces unit in a western district of North Korea on Wednesday, October 2, 2024
A vehicle carrying South Korea’s Hyunmoo ballistic missile is seen during a parade to celebrate the 76th South Korean Armed Forces Day in Seoul on Oct. 1, 2024.
A photograph released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows missiles launched during a nuclear counterattack drill at an undisclosed location in April.
State media footage showed Kim, dressed in his usual leather jacket, speaking at a training event for special operations forces.
There, he criticized Yoon for his comments about the “end of the regime” and his “cries” about his country’s alliance with the United States.
Seoul, which has no nuclear weapons of its own, is covered by the US nuclear umbrella, and Washington has stationed tens of thousands of troops in the country since the Korean War ended in 1953 without a peace treaty.
Kim said it was Seoul and Washington who were “destroying regional security and peace,” KCNA reported, while calling the South Korean leader “an abnormal man.”
On Tuesday, fighter jets flew over central Seoul and tanks rolled through the streets, as South Korea showed off for the first time its largest ballistic missile, the Hyunmoo-5, capable of destroying underground bunkers.
A U.S. B-1B heavy bomber also performed a flyover of the ceremony early Tuesday, flanked by F-15K aircraft.
Washington regularly deploys nuclear assets to the Korean Peninsula, underscoring its protection of the South from growing threats from Pyongyang.
A photograph published by North Korean state media shows Kim Jong Un inspecting the training base of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) special operations unit.
Kim Jong Un speaks with military officers at a special forces training base in North Korea’s western region.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers his speech during a celebration to mark the 76th anniversary of Korean Armed Forces Day in Seongnam, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024.
At the event commemorating South Korea’s Armed Forces Day, Yoon said that if the North “attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face a determined and overwhelming response from our military and the US-ROK alliance.”
“That day will be the end of the North Korean regime,” he added.
North Korea is expected to scrap a landmark inter-Korean agreement signed in 1991 at a parliamentary meeting next week, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said on Wednesday, as part of Kim’s campaign to officially define the South as an enemy state.
Earlier this year, Kim called for removing clauses related to unification from the constitution, while abolishing agencies dedicated to improving ties with the South.
State media images showed Kim, dressed in his usual leather jacket, at a training event for special operations forces.
Last month, North Korea also revealed images of a uranium enrichment facility for the first time, showing leader Kim touring the site as he called for more centrifuges to boost the country’s nuclear arsenal.
South Korea’s spy agency later said the unprecedented revelation was “aimed at the United States” and that North Korea was believed to be capable of producing a double-digit number of nuclear weapons.
Last week, a lawmaker told reporters that the National Intelligence Service had warned that North Korea could carry out another nuclear test – its seventh – after the US elections in November.