Pyongyang trains soldiers to see Seoul as enemy to crush by force: Report

Pyongyang is intensifying military hostility toward Seoul, training soldiers to believe that South Korea must be crushed militarily and unified with the North by force, according to Radio Free Asia.

“A training aimed at fostering a hostile view toward South Korea is underway,” a source from North Hamgyong Province, who is familiar with military affairs, told the outlet last Wednesday. “It is Kim Jong-un’s stance to decide the [unification] matter by force. The fact that the word ‘unification’ has become taboo means that peaceful unification is no longer possible.”

The source noted that the language in the training marked a shift in the regime’s strategy, which previously upheld “peaceful unification” at least outwardly.

“Young soldiers who underwent such training were shocked to hear that Kim Jong-un intends to push unification by force,” the source said.

The education in question reportedly portrayed the South as a traitor backed by the United States.

“Although the North allowed them to establish an industrial complex in a critically important military area and connect the road and railways, the South […] has only sought to swallow us up,” the regime allegedly taught soldiers during training.

The training also defined Seoul as an enemy that North Korean forces would eventually have to fight. It also encouraged soldiers to maintain a combat-ready posture, using "overseas North Korean soldiers" as an example.

The "overseas North Korean soldiers" seem to refer to those fighting on behalf of Russia in its war against Ukraine.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]