NORTH KOREA: Kim Ramps Up Combative Rhetoric As Key Legislative Meeting Starts

North Korea's state media quoted Kim Jong-un as warning that the country would not be afraid to use nuclear weapons if it comes under attack, according to South Korean Yonhap News Agency. The apparent escalation in his hawkish rhetoric comes on the back of the start to a key parliamentary meeting in North Korea, during which the rubber-stamp legislature is expected to approve constitutional amendments designating South Korea as a "primary foe," and potentially formalising the country's nuclear doctrine.

• Kim's comments were a response to last week's remark from South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who said that North Korea's regime would be brought down by a "resolute and overwhelming" response of the ROK-US alliance it it tried to use nuclear weapons. Against this backdrop, Kim rattled the nuclear sabre and reaffirmed the decision to abandon efforts towards Korean unification, calling South and North Korea "two states hostile to each other."
• Separately, South Korea warned that Pyongyang will likely send its regular troops to Ukraine to support Russia's war effort. Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun told lawmakers that "Russia and North Korea have signed a mutual treaty akin to a military alliance," which makes "the possibility of such a deployment (...) highly likely." The official also said that a recent report flagging the death of several North Korean soldiers near the occupied city of Donetsk was likely true.