Kim tells soldiers South Korea is 'hostile' country

Kim Jong Un told North Korean soldiers that the South was a "foreign" country, state media reported Friday, as Seoul slammed Pyongyang's growing support, including troop deployments, for Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Despite remaining officially at war, the two Koreas have long defined ties as a "special relationship", not state-to-state relations, with a view to eventual reunification.

But that changed this week, after North Korea amended its constitution to define the South as a "hostile" state and blew up roads and railways that once connected the two countries.

"Our army should keep in mind once again the stark fact that (South Korea) is a foreign country and an apparent hostile country," Kim told the 2nd Corps of the Korean People's Army, state media said.

Dynamiting roads and railways this week means "the end of the evil relationship with Seoul," Kim said, plus "the complete removal of the... unreasonable idea of reunification".

If conflict breaks out, North Korean soldiers must remember they are fighting "against the hostile country, not the fellow countrymen," Kim added, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

As ties with the South and its ally Washington have frayed, North Korea has pulled ever closer to Russia, with President Vladimir Putin making a rare visit to Pyongyang in June, when the two countries signed a mutual defence agreement.

South Korea had long accused the North of shipping weapons to Ukraine -- which would violate rafts of UN sanctions on both countries -- and President Yoon Suk Yeol presided over an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the two countries' deepening ties.

"The close military ties between Russia and North Korea, which extend beyond the transfer of military supplies to actual troop deployments, pose a significant security threat not only to our country but also to the international community," the president's office said in a statement.

- Troops in Ukraine? -

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that he had intelligence reports saying North Korea was training 10,000 soldiers to support Russia in its fight against Kyiv.

North Korea has a vested interest in sending troops to fight in Ukraine, Hong Sung-pyo, senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Military Affairs, told AFP.

"The North Korean military has primarily conducted conventional training in isolation, primarily using outdated weapons, and lacks overseas experience," he said.

The North likely sees Ukraine "as a conflict from which they can gain valuable intelligence by participating, even if this means risking the lives of its own citizens."

During his tour of the frontline troop unit Thursday, Kim examined "important documents" including a large map, purportedly showing Seoul, as he discussed battle plans with top officials.

Seoul's mayor Oh Se-hoon said Friday he felt "an overwhelming anger at their repeated threats" and blamed the fact that "the (North) possess nuclear weapons while we do not".

South Korea is protected by the so-called U.S. nuclear umbrella, which sees Washington periodically deploy tactical nuclear assets to the region.

"We urgently need to increase our nuclear potential," Oh said, echoing growing calls among some South Koreans for the country to develop its own nukes.

- Copyright dispute? -

South Korea's military released video footage on Tuesday of North Korean soldiers dynamiting the roads and railways, and Seoul later said Pyongyang appeared to have used the footage in state media.

Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader's powerful sister and a key regime spokesperson, said the image in question was "a screenshot from one of the video clips released by NBC, Fox News, Reuters and other foreign media."

All Seoul-based foreign media received the footage from the South Korean military.

Citing an investigation, Kim Yo Jong then accused South Korean media outlets, including the official Yonhap News Agency, of using images from Pyongyang's state media without authorisation.

Seoul's unification ministry said Friday that all South Korean "media companies legally use materials from the Korean Central News Agency by paying royalties through Japanese intermediaries.

"We make it clear that it is North Korea that is unlawfully using our materials," deputy spokesperson Kim In-ae told a briefing.

© Agence France-Presse

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