Pyongyang [North Korea], October 17: Media reported on October 17 that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has amended its constitution and for the first time called South Korea a 'hostile country'.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on October 17 that the North Korean army's bombing of the inter-Korean border was a necessary and legal measure, carried out in accordance with the requirements of the North Korean Constitution, which clearly states that South Korea is a hostile country.
On October 15, the North Korean army blew up the inter-Korean road and railway in the North. KCNA added that the action also came from the serious security situation that is approaching the brink of an unpredictable war due to the political and military provocations of hostile forces.
A North Korean defense ministry spokesman said the country would take further steps to strengthen its southern border, but did not say whether there would be any other changes to the constitution.
Last December, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un described inter-Korean relations as "two hostile countries" and said he would abandon the goal of reconciliation or unification with South Korea, Yonhap reported. In January, Kim Jong-un called for a constitutional revision that would label South Korea as the "main enemy."
Under the 1991 inter-Korean agreement, relations between South and North Korea are defined as a "special relationship" formed temporarily in the process of seeking unification, rather than relations between two countries, according to The Korean Herald.
South Korea has said its policy is to continue pursuing unification but will respond with force if North Korea takes any provocative action. Tensions between the two sides have escalated since last year, when Seoul and Pyongyang announced they were scrapping a 2019 pledge to ease military tensions.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
