Wednesday, October 9, 2024, 17:42
Nine months ago, Kim Jong-un asked to review the Constitution of North Korea with the aim of defining its neighbor to the south as the “main and invariable enemy.” Key parliamentary sessions took place between Monday and Tuesday of this week to address the possible amendment, which, logically, has been approved. The president made his goals very clear. On the one hand, eliminate any reference that included a possible reunification with South Korea and, on the other, add to the Magna Carta the idea of ”occupying and claiming it completely” in the event that a real war broke out.
Both countries are going through one of the worst diplomatic crises in recent years. Technically they are still at war, since a peace agreement has never been signed since the conflict that lasted between 1950 and 1953, but tensions on the Asian continent have intensified recently. Last month Kim qualified the importance of boosting his nuclear arsenal to defend himself “against the bloc led by the United States,” which includes South Korea.
Permanent border closure
North Korea announced this Wednesday that it will “permanently” close the border with South Korea. Pyongyang has warned of a “serious military situation” developed by the latest movements carried out in the country governed by Yoon Suk-yeol. For this reason, the North Korean Army General Staff has stated that it will “permanently cut off roads and railways” with the aim of “fortifying the relevant areas on its side with firm defense structures.”
The Executive has notified Washington of its decision in advance to “avoid any misinterpretation or accidental conflict.” This is a rather symbolic measure, because for years the border between both countries has been impenetrable and cannot be crossed due to the military presence of both parties.
Tension on the peninsula has escalated following the military rapprochement between North Korea and Russia. Putin and Kim signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement in June, by which they committed to defend each other in the event of aggression against one of the parties. It is also known that the Asian country has supported the invasion of Ukraine by sending military force in exchange for the necessary food supply in northern Korea to alleviate its chronic food shortage.
On the other hand, in recent months, the United States has redoubled its military presence in South Korea, a country with which it maintains a consolidated strategic alliance. The Americans carry out rehearsals and drills in Seoul against Pyongyang’s growing arsenal. The US military closely monitors all of North Korea’s movements, and its deployment in South Korean territory includes aircraft carriers, long-range bombers and submarines.
For this reason, the North Korean General Staff has stated that “the serious military situation that the peninsula is experiencing requires that the armed forces of our country adopt more determined and energetic measures to more credibly defend national security.” He has also warned about the “critical situation” on the border, where there is an increasingly “greater danger of war.”
Pyongyang changes defense minister
Kang Sun-nam will leave the position in the hands of No Kwang-chol, the new head of the Defense portfolio, who already held this position between June 2018 and December 2019. This has been decided by the North Korean Parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly , although the reasons for the exchange are still unknown. No Kwang-chol was the person who accompanied his leader to summits with Donald Trump, then president of the United States, during the year and a half that he headed the ministry.
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