North Korean leader Kim Jong-un no longer wants to pursue reconciliation with South Korea. He wants to rewrite the constitution to remove the idea of reunification of the two countries. According to North Korean state media Kim Jong-un announced this on Monday during the Supreme People’s Assembly in the North Korean capital Pyongyang. “We don’t want war, but we won’t run away from it either,” Kim Jong-un said in his speech.
Inter-Korean relations have deteriorated sharply in the past year. Tensions between the two neighboring countries are increasing due to both the (nuclear) weapons developments in North Korea and South Korea’s military exercises with the United States. For example, Kim Jong-un pointed an accusing finger at South Korea and the US as the cause of the increasing tensions. He also said in his speech that South Korea is “the number one enemy” of North Korea.
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On Sunday, North Korea launched what it said was “a hypersonic missile.” According to South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol, this recent missile test was an attempt to sow division among South Koreans. The missile test was strongly condemned by the US and Japan. After the launch, the three countries stepped up their joint military exercises. In addition, Yoon Suk-yeol believes that North Korea’s decision and the missile tests are “provocations” that will be “reacted to on a large scale.”