Kim said his final conclusion was that unification with the South was no longer possible in a speech to the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea's parliament, while accusing Seoul of seeking to demolish the regime and its unification efforts.
“We do not want war, but we have no intention of avoiding it,” Kim was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency.
State media said that three bodies dealing with inter-Korean unification and tourism would close their doors.
This move comes at a time when tensions on the Korean Peninsula have recently worsened amid a series of missile tests and Pyongyang's effort to abandon a decades-long policy and change the pattern of its relationship with its southern neighbor.
Analysts said the North Korean Foreign Ministry could take over relations with Seoul and perhaps help justify the use of nuclear weapons against the South in a future war.
While Kim called for South Korea to be designated as “enemy number one” in its constitution, he also said that war would annihilate the South and inflict an “unimaginable” defeat on the United States, according to KCNA.
Kim also said that if war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula, the country's constitution must reflect the issue of “occupying,” “reclaiming” and “integrating” the South into its territory.
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