Pyongyang: North Korea has officially amended its constitution to define South Korea as a “hostile state,” according to a report from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). This declaration marks the first confirmation that Pyongyang has revised its basic law following directives from leader Kim Jong-un, who has shifted the nation’s stance from reconciliation to enmity with the South.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the constitution now reflects the heightened tensions and the North’s view of South Korea as an enemy, not a partner. The change follows a series of aggressive actions, including the destruction of roads and railways previously emblematic of inter-Korean reconciliation earlier this week. KCNA described these actions as “inevitable and legitimate measures” taken in accordance with the new constitutional mandate under serious security circumstances, exacerbated by what it called “grave political and military provocations by hostile forces.”
The revision of the constitution was discussed in a key
parliamentary meeting last week, although it was unclear at the time if Kim Jong-un’s “two hostile states” doctrine was included. The doctrine was first mentioned by Kim during a year-end party meeting last December, where he articulated a vision of inter-Korean relations as fundamentally adversarial. Following this, in January, Kim explicitly called for the constitutional revision to label South Korea as North Korea’s “invariable principal enemy” and ordered the severance of all physical connections, including railway tracks, to an “irretrievable level.”
The physical disconnection was evident as North Korea’s military took steps to cut off roads and railways, including those along the Gyeongui Line, which links the South’s western border city of Paju with the North’s Kaesong, and the Donghae Line along the east coast. KCNA reported that parts of these roads and railways in Gangwon Province and Kaesong were “completely blocked through blasting.” This move is part of what North Korea describes as a “phased co
mplete separation of its territory” and an ongoing effort to “permanently fortify the closed southern border.”