North Korea says South’s president has raised risk of nuclear war

North Korean state media released a white paper on Sunday accusing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol of exposing his country to the danger of nuclear war through his policies toward the North.

The document, compiled by North Korea’s Institute of Enemy State Studies and released by state news agency KCNA, criticized Yoon’s “reckless remarks” about war, abandoning elements of an inter-Korean agreement, engaging in nuclear war planning with the United States, and seeking closer ties with Japan and NATO.

Risk of nuclear war

“Its ever-worsening military moves resulted only in the paradoxical consequences of pushing (North Korea) to stockpile its nuclear weapons at an exponential rate and further develop its nuclear attack capability,” the paper said.

A view shows what they say is a mobile missile launcher vehicle parked at an undisclosed location in this screengrab obtained from a video released released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on November 1, 2024.Reuters

Yoon, a conservative, has taken a hard line on North Korea, which has forged ahead with developing its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

His administration blames North Korea for raising tensions with weapons tests and providing military aid and troops to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

'Primary foe'

Pyongyang has been taking steps to sever inter-Korean ties, redefining the South as a separate, hostile enemy state, since Kim Jong Un declared it a "primary foe" early this year and said unification was no longer possible.

Young people, including students and youth league officials, sign petitions to join or return to the army this week, according to North Korean state media, at an undisclosed location in North Korea, in this undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency October 16, 2024.Reuters

North Korea blew up sections of inter-Korean roads and rail lines on its side of the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas last month, and satellite imagery shows it has since built large trenches across the former crossings.

A section of the road and rail links with South Korea is blasted to completely block the links off, according to North Korea's state media, at an undisclosed location along North Korea's southern border area, October 15, 2024, in this photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency October 17, 2024.Reuters

The two Koreas are still technically at war after their 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

The two Koreas have also clashed over balloons of trash floated since May from North Korea. Pyongyang has said the launches are a response to balloons sent by anti-regime activists in the South.

Sunday’s white paper also listed Yoon’s domestic political woes, including scandals involving his wife, which have driven his approval ratings to record lows.

War games

Meanwhile, the United States on Sunday deployed B-1B bombers for joint aerial drills with South Korea and Japan, in response to North Korea's recent launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

U.S. soldiers look at an AH-64E Apache helicopter of the South Korean army firing missiles during a combined live fire drill between South Korea and U.S. army at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex, in Pocheon South Korea, October 30, 2024.Reuters

The military exercise showed the three countries' strong commitment to responding to the North's nuclear and missile threats through cooperation, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attend a joint press conference during a 2+2 meeting, at the State Department in Washington, U.S., October 31, 2024.Reuters

This is the second time this year that the three countries conducted joint air drills and the fourth time in 2024 that the United States deployed its strategic bombers on the Korean peninsula, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.