SEOUL, South Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared on Tuesday that his country would no longer pursue reconciliation with South Korea. State media reported that Kim called for the rewriting of North Korea’s constitution to eliminate the notion of shared statehood between the two war-divided nations.

This drastic departure from decades-long efforts toward peaceful unification comes amidst heightened tensions, marked by an increase in both Kim’s weapons development and joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States. Analysts suggest that Kim’s move could be aimed at diminishing South Korea’s influence in regional security matters and signaling a preference for direct negotiations with the United States amid the deepening nuclear standoff.

By declaring South Korea a permanent adversary rather than a potential partner for reconciliation, Kim may seek to bolster the credibility of his escalatory nuclear doctrine. This doctrine authorizes preemptive nuclear attacks if North Korea perceives a threat to its leadership.

In a move that underscores the seriousness of North Korea’s shift, key government agencies responsible for managing relations with South Korea were abolished during a meeting of North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament on Monday. The Supreme People’s Assembly declared an “acute confrontation” between the two Koreas and emphasized the mistake of viewing the South as a diplomatic partner.

North Korea dissolved agencies such as the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country, the National Economic Cooperation Bureau, and the (Diamond Mountain) International Tourism Administration, which were instrumental in facilitating North-South dialogue, negotiations, and cooperation.

During his address, Kim blamed South Korea and the United States for escalating tensions in the region, pointing to expanded joint military exercises, U.S. strategic military deployments, and trilateral security cooperation with Japan. Kim accused the South of being “top-class stooges” beholden to external powers engaged in confrontational maneuvers.

Kim called for the rewriting of North Korea’s constitution to redefine South Korea as the North’s “primary foe and invariable principal enemy.” He ordered the removal of symbols of inter-Korean reconciliation, calling for the elimination of concepts such as ‘reunification,’ ‘reconciliation,’ and ‘fellow countrymen’ from the national history.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol denounced Kim’s comments as “anti-national and anti-historical,” emphasizing the South’s firm defense readiness and a willingness to respond forcefully to provocations.

Kim reiterated that North Korea had no intention to unilaterally start a war but also had no intention to avoid one. He warned that a nuclear conflict in the Korean Peninsula would bring “unimaginable disaster and defeat to the United States.”

The North Korean government pledged to take “practical measures” to implement the decision to abolish agencies handling dialogue and cooperation with the South. The international community is closely watching North Korea’s actions, particularly amid growing concerns of an alleged arms cooperation deal with Russia, accused of providing support for North Korea’s military capabilities in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.