Seoul:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to deliver a “fatal blow” to his enemies as South Korea’s hawkish ruling party lost a parliamentary election, state media said on Thursday.
So far this year, nuclear-armed North Korea has declared South Korea its “main enemy,” abandoned institutions dedicated to reunification and outreach and threatened war over territorial incursions of “even 0.001 mm.”

According to Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency, Kim Jong Un said that if provoked, North Korea would “not hesitate to use all means at its disposal to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy.”

According to the Korean Central News Agency, he made the remarks while visiting Kim Jong Il Military and Political University on April 10, which coincided with the South Korean parliamentary election.

“Now is the time to prepare for war more thoroughly than ever before,” Kim Jong Un said.

North Korea “should be more determined and better prepared for a war that cannot be lost, not just for a possible war.”

Some blurry images released by state media showed Kim Jong Un, surrounded by military officials, inspecting a miniature of the South Korean capital Seoul, including a map of the Han River and the peninsula.

South Korea’s parliamentary election results defeated the party of current President Yoon Seok-yeol, who has taken a tough stance against nuclear-armed North Korea while improving ties with Washington.

It also makes him likely to be a lame duck for the remaining three years of his term.

The main opposition Democratic Party, which won in a landslide, favors a softer approach to Pyongyang.

Analysts said the results were good news for Kim, especially given that former U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to return in the November election.

Experts speculate that Trump, who held a historic but ultimately unsuccessful summit with Kim during his presidency, may be inclined to engage with Pyongyang if he returns to the White House.

Kim has recently stepped up military ties with Russia, which used its veto at the U.N. Security Council last month to effectively end U.N. experts’ monitoring of North Korea’s sanctions violations.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)