North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has issued a stark warning to South Korea, threatening to annihilate the country with nuclear weapons if attacked, state media reported on Friday. This threat follows South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s recent statement, in which he warned that any North Korean use of nuclear weapons would spell the end of Kim’s regime.
Kim’s aggressive rhetoric, though not new, comes during a period of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Just weeks ago, North Korean state media released images of Kim touring a uranium enrichment facility, believed to produce weapons-grade nuclear materials.
During a visit to a military base in western North Korea on Wednesday, Kim declared that if South Korea violated North Korea’s sovereignty, Pyongyang would unleash its entire arsenal, including nuclear weapons, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). He further stated that the continued existence of Seoul and South Korea would be impossible in such a scenario.
This exchange of threats follows a parade in South Korea on Armed Forces Day, where President Yoon displayed the country’s powerful Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile, which is capable of striking North Korean underground bunkers. Yoon also reaffirmed the strength of the South Korea-U.S. military alliance, emphasizing that North Korea would face overwhelming retaliation if it deployed nuclear weapons.
Tensions have escalated as North Korea appears to have strengthened its nuclear capabilities and ties with Russia. Additionally, Kim recently declared that the North would no longer pursue peaceful reunification with the South, further deepening the divide between the two nations.
Hostilities between the two Koreas continue to simmer, with no peace treaty ever signed following the Korean War.