North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened to use nuclear weapons to destroy South Korea if attacked, state media reported Friday, after South Korea\u2019s president warned that if the North used nuclear weapons it would \u201cface the end of its regime.\u201d <\/p>\n
The fiery rhetoric isn\u2019t new, but comes at a time of tension on the Korean Peninsula and just weeks after North Korean state media released images of Kim visiting a uranium enrichment facility, which produces weapons-grade nuclear materials. <\/p>\n
While touring an army base in the western part of the country Wednesday, Kim said if the South were to encroach upon the North\u2019s sovereignty, Pyongyang \u201cwould use without hesitation all the offensive forces it has possessed, including nuclear weapons,\u201d the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Friday. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf such situation comes, the permanent existence of Seoul and the Republic of Korea would be impossible,\u201d Kim added, using the proper name for South Korea. <\/p>\n
Hostilities between the two Korean leaders have been simmering this year as North Korea has appeared to have intensified its nuclear production efforts and strengthened ties with Russia, deepening widespread concern in the West over the isolated nation\u2019s direction. <\/p>\n
Kim\u2019s comments appeared to come in direct response to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who on Tuesday showcased Seoul\u2019s most powerful ballistic missile and other weapons designed to deter North Korean threats during a parade for Armed Forces Day. <\/p>\n
North and South Korea have been cut off from each other since the end of the Korean War in 1953, which concluded with an armistice not a peace treaty, leaving the two sides still technically at war. <\/p>\n
While both governments had long sought the goal of one day peacefully reunifying, earlier this year Kim announced the North would no longer pursue that aim, calling the South the \u201cprincipal enemy\u201d and demolishing a monument symbolizing unification. <\/p>\n
Last month, North Korean state media released photos of Kim purportedly touring a nuclear facility in a rare glimpse of the nation\u2019s closely guarded weapons program. Experts said the images \u2013 which show Kim flanked by men in military uniforms and crisp white lab shirts \u2013 underscore North Korea\u2019s growing confidence in its position as a nuclear power. <\/p>\n
South Korea has also been building up its arsenal to respond to a potential threat from the North. <\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Yoon unveiled the Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile, which is reportedly capable of penetrating North Korean underground bunkers. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face the resolute and overwhelming response of our military and the SK-US alliance,\u201d Yoon said, in reference to the United States as the country\u2019s key military partner. \u201cThe North Korean regime must now break free from the delusion that nuclear weapons will protect them.\u201d <\/p>\n
The US flew a B-1B bomber over an Armed Forces Day ceremony on Tuesday in Seongnam, near Seoul, in an apparent show of solidarity. <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Kim called Yoon a \u201cpuppet\u201d and said he was an \u201cabnormal man\u201d for bragging about his military might at the doorstep of a nation in possession of nuclear weapons, KCNA reported. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened to use nuclear weapons to destroy South Korea if attacked, state media reported Friday, after South Korea\u2019s president warned that if the North used nuclear weapons it would \u201cface the end of its regime.\u201d The fiery rhetoric isn\u2019t new, but comes at a time of tension on the <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8386","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}