North Korea will no longer pursue reconciliation with South because of hostility, Kim Jong Un says

By KIM TONG-HYUNG
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said his country would no longer pursue reconciliation with South Korea and called for rewriting the North’s constitution to eliminate the idea of shared statehood between the war-divided countries. The historic step discards a decades-long pursuit of peaceful unification based in a sense of national homogeneity shared by the Koreas. Tensions have risen as the pace of Kim’s weapons development and the South’s military exercises with the United States has quickened. State media also said North Korea abolished the government agencies tasked with managing relations with South Korea. South Korea’s president said the comments show the “anti-national” nature of Kim’s government and that Seoul was maintaining defense readiness.