North Korea’s Kim Jong-un Advocates Shift in South’s Status, Raises Alarm About Potential Conflict

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a significant announcement on Monday, advocating for a constitutional amendment to alter the status of South Korea as an independent state. While emphasizing that his country does not actively seek war, Kim issued a warning that they were not inclined to avoid it either, according to state media KCNA’s report on Tuesday.

During a speech at the Supreme People’s Assembly, North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament, Kim expressed his firm conclusion that the reunification with the South is now an unattainable goal. He accused Seoul of pursuing a regime collapse and absorption-based unification strategy.

“We don’t desire war, but we are not shying away from it,” Kim stated, as quoted by KCNA. As part of this shift in approach, three organizations focused on unification and inter-Korean tourism are slated to shut down, according to state media reports.

This development unfolds against the backdrop of escalating tensions in the Korean Peninsula, marked by a series of missile tests and Pyongyang’s departure from decades-old policies governing its relationship with the South. Analysts speculate that North Korea’s foreign ministry could take over dealings with Seoul, potentially providing a rationale for the use of nuclear weapons in a future conflict.

In a recent report for the U.S.-based 38 North project, former State Department official Robert Carlin and nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker expressed a heightened sense of danger on the Korean Peninsula. They contended that the situation is more precarious than any time since early June 1950. “That may sound overly dramatic, but we believe that, like his grandfather in 1950, Kim Jong Un has made a strategic decision to go to war,” they wrote. While the timing and method remain uncertain, the perceived risk surpasses routine warnings from Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo regarding Pyongyang’s provocations.

However, some observers maintain a more optimistic perspective, suggesting that these changes reflect evolving realities and might eventually contribute to the normalization of relations between the two Koreas.