North Korea says constitution now defines South as a ‘hostile state’

North Korea said Thursday that its constitution now defines the South as a “hostile” state, the first time Pyongyang has confirmed legal changes called for by leader Kim Jong-un earlier this year.

The country blew up roads and railways linking it to the South this week as “an inevitable and legitimate measure taken in keeping with the requirement of the DPRK Constitution which clearly defines the ROK as a hostile state,” the official Korean Central News Agency said.

South Korea’s military on Tuesday released video footage of North Korean soldiers dynamiting deeply symbolic roads and railways connecting the two Koreas, days after Pyongyang’s military had vowed to “permanently” seal the border with the South.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of the lowest points in years, after Kim in January defined Seoul as his country’s “principal enemy” and said they were no longer interested in reunification.

KCNA said Thursday that the army had taken “a measure to physically cut off the DPRK’s roads and railways which lead to the ROK (South Korea)”.