North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un has branded South Korea his country's 'principal enemy' and warned he would not hesitate to annihilate it.
The dictator was also quoted by state media
saying he had 'no intention of avoiding war' with his country's historic
enemy to the south.
The report follows recent live-fire exercises by Pyongyang's military near the contested maritime border that prompted counter-drills and evacuation orders for residents on two South Korean border islands.
'The
historic time has come at last when we should define as a state most
hostile toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea the entity
called the Republic of Korea,' Kim was reported as saying by the
official Korean Central News Agency.
Kim, urging factory workers to modernise and 'produce more weapons', said he had 'no intention of avoiding a war' and warned he would have no hesitation in 'annihilating' South Korea, KCNA added.
This
news comes after nearly 50 countries joined the United States in
condemning North Korea's alleged transfers of weapons to Vladimir
Putin's forces for use in Ukraine, which would violate rafts of United
Nations sanctions.
The White House last week said it has
evidence that Russia had fired at Ukraine additional ballistic missiles
provided by North Korea.
It accused the North of sending both
missiles and launchers to Russia in what it called a 'significant and
concerning escalation' of its support for Putin's war effort.
