Kim calls South Korea a principal enemy as his rhetoric sharpens in a US election year

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called South Korea “our principal enemy” and threatened to annihilate it if provoked. Kim has escalated his inflammatory rhetoric ahead of South Korean and U.S. elections this year and experts anticipate he will conduct more weapons tests to try to influence the polls. State media said Kim made the remarks while touring North Korean munitions factories this week. His visits to the factories could be related to North Korea’s reported supply of conventional arms to Russia in support of its its war in Ukraine. The top diplomats of 48 countries said Wednesday that Russia used North Korean missiles against Ukraine on Dec. 30 and Jan. 2.