TOKYO, January 10. /TASS/. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong Un believes that South Korea is pursuing an exclusively confrontational policy and, as a result, has become the country with the most hostile stance toward Pyongyang, the North Korean Central News Agency reported.

"Comrade Kim Jong Un said that now is the historical time to characterize South Korea as the most hostile state to the DPRK. It has been desperately clinging for a long time, about 80 years, to a [policy of] vicious confrontation to overthrow our authority and regime," the news agency quoted Kim as saying during a visit to a defense industry facility.

Kim said that North Korea must "realize this inevitable, irreversible reality" and respond accordingly. In addition, he pointed out that Pyongyang should prioritize strengthening its defense and nuclear war deterrence forces.

The DPRK conducted a coastal artillery drill on January 5, firing 192 shells at proxy targets in waters near the South Korean islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong, but north of the Northern Limit Line, which Seoul considers the de facto maritime boundary. In response, South Korean forces conducted similar maneuvers, but fired about 400 shells. Seoul said that the North Korean shells landed in the buffer zone.

The September 19, 2018 inter-Korean agreement on the de-escalation of tensions established a maritime buffer zone with proxy targets, where the firing of artillery shells is prohibited. In November 2023, Pyongyang announced a complete withdrawal from the agreement after Seoul stopped complying with some of its provisions in response to the launch of a North Korean reconnaissance satellite.