North Korea’s Kim Jong-un stresses troops to treat South as hostile foreign enemy

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reminded his troops to treat South Korea as a hostile foreign enemy and insisted that the North wouldn’t hesitate to attack its rival if the South infringes upon its sovereignty, state media said on Friday.

The steps punctuated Kim’s calls for North Korea to abandon its longstanding goals of reconciling with the South and reflect his intent to escalate tensions and increase leverage amid a deepening stalemate in diplomacy.

Analysts see increasing risks of possible clashes along the rivals’ tense border areas, although it would be highly unlikely for the North to contemplate full-scale attacks in the face of superior US and South Korean forces.

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China warns of escalating tensions on Korean peninsula after North blows up roads to South

During a visit to the headquarters of the North Korean People’s Army’s 2nd Corps on Thursday, Kim stressed to troops the importance of understanding that any use of offensive force against the South would constitute a “legitimate retaliatory action against the hostile country, not the fellow countrymen”.