South Korean defence report no longer refers to North as an enemy, confirming closer ties
- The two Koreas have demolished some of their front-line guard posts, established buffer zones along their frontier and demilitarised their shared border village
North Korea is no longer South Korea’s “enemy,” though Pyongyang’s nuclear programme still poses a security threat, according to Seoul’s biennial defence document published on Tuesday.
It’s the first time since 2010, the same year 50 South Koreans were killed in attacks blamed on the North, that the enemy label hasn’t been applied, and a further sign of better ties between the rivals.
The South Korean Defence Ministry white paper doesn’t include past terms that labelled North Korea an “enemy, a “present enemy” or the South’s “main enemy”. It still said the North’s weapons of mass destruction are a “threat to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,” a reference to the North’s missile and nuclear programme.
The “enemy” terminology has been a long-running source of animosity between the Koreas. North Korea has called the label a provocation that demonstrated Seoul’s hostility.
Liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in is pursuing deeper engagement with the North after a surprise round of diplomacy last year replaced threats of war and a string of increasingly powerful North Korean weapons tests in 2017.
Moon is not alone in seeking better ties with the North. The paper’s release also comes as US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un look to stage a second summit meant to settle a stand-off over the North’s pursuit of a nuclear programme that can reliably target anywhere in the continental US.
South Korea first called North Korea its “main enemy” in 1995, a year after North Korea threatened to turn Seoul into “sea of fire,” a term the North has since repeatedly used when confrontations flared with the South.