The leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong-un, said that North Korea no longer seeks reconciliation and reunification with South Korea. At the same time, he threatened to "thoroughly destroy" the USA and South Korea in the event of a "military confrontation against the DPRK."
He stated this on December 31, 2023, during a meeting with the commander of the North Korean army, writes the Korean Central Telegraph Agency.
Kim said inter-Korean relations have become "a relationship between two hostile countries and two sides at war."
"It is time to face reality and clarify our relationship with the South," he said.
According to him, if Washington and Seoul try to go to a military confrontation with Pyongyang, then his "nuclear war deterrent will not hesitate to resort to serious actions."
"If the United States and South Korea decide to engage in an anti-republican military confrontation, the North Korean forces should not hesitate to use all their superpowers and capabilities to deliver a devastating blow and wipe them out," Kim Jong-un said.
- On December 28, 2023, Kim Jong-un ordered the military and representatives of the munitions and nuclear weapons industries to rapidly prepare for war to counter "confrontational steps by the United States."
- On November 21, 2023 , North Korea announced that it had successfully launched a spy satellite into space. In theory, a spy satellite could allow Pyongyang to monitor the movement of US and South Korean troops and weapons on the Korean Peninsula and detect threats. It would also allow the North to plan its nuclear attacks more precisely. In response, South Korea suspended the Comprehensive Military Agreement signed in 2018 to reduce tensions between the two countries and prevent a conflict. North Koreaʼs satellite launch is a violation of the no-fly zone guaranteed by the agreement.
- Already on November 23, North Korea broke the five-year agreement with South Korea. The country also promised to cancel all measures "taken to prevent military conflict in all spheres, including land, sea and air" and deploy "more powerful armed forces and new types of military equipment" in the border region. North Korea later deployed troops and heavy weapons in the demilitarized zone near the border with South Korea.