North Korea says its revised constitution defines South Korea as ‘hostile state’ for first time

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea confirmed Thursday that its recently revised constitution defines South Korea as “a hostile state” for the first time, two days after it blew up unused road and rail links that once connected the country with the South.

North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament met for two days last week to rewrite the country’s constitution but state media hadn’t immediately provided many details about the session. Leader Kim Jong Un had called for the constitutional change at that parliamentary meeting to designate South Korea as the country’s main enemy, remove the goal of a peaceful Korean unification and define the North’s sovereign, territorial sphere.

The official Korean Central News Agency said Thursday that its recent demolition of parts of the northern sections of the inter-Korean road and rail links was “an inevitable and legitimate measure taken in keeping with the requirement of the DPRK Constitution which clearly defines the ROK as a hostile state.”

DPRK stands for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name, while ROK stands for Republic of Korea, the South’s formal name.

KCNA gave no further details of the constitutional changes.

Kim’s order in January to rewrite the constitution caught many foreign experts by surprise because it was seen as eliminating the idea of shared statehood between the war-divided Koreas and breaking away with his predecessors’ long-cherished dreams of peacefully achieving a unified Korea on the North’s terms.

Some experts say Kim likely aims to diminish South Korean cultural influence and bolster his rule at home. Others say Kim wants legal looseness to launch military attacks on South Korea by defining it as a foreign state, not a partner for potential unification which shares a sense of national homogeneity. They say Kim may also want to seek direct dealings with the U.S. in future diplomacy on its nuclear program, not via South Korea.

KCNA, citing North Korea’s Defense Ministry, reported that North Korea blew up the 60-meter-long sections of two pairs of the roads and railway routes — one pair on the western portion of the inter-Korean border and the other on the eastern side of the border.

An unidentified ministry spokesperson cited “serious security circumstances running to the unpredictable brink of war owing to the grave political and military provocations of the hostile forces,” in an apparent reference to South Korea and the United States.

Largely built with South Korean money, the road and rail links were a symbol of now-dormant inter-Korean reconciliation. In the 2000s, the two Koreas reconnected the road and rail routes for the first time since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, but their operations were halted later as the rivals bickered over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions and other issues.

Last week, North Korea said it would permanently block its border with South Korea and build front-line defense structures. South Korean officials said North Korea had been adding anti-tank barriers and laying mines along the border since earlier this year.

Friday’s KCNA dispatch cited North Korea’s Defense Ministry as saying that North Korea will continue to take measures to permanently fortify the closed southern border.