Defense Minister of the Republic of Korea Lee Jong Sop stated the need to "clearly" recognize the DPRK and its armed forces as an enemy. Yonhap agency reported this on Wednesday.

“We must clearly recognize as our enemy the North Korean regime and the North Korean armed forces, which threaten our country through all sorts of provocations,” he said.

Lee Jong Sub noted that Pyongyang has conducted a series of missile launches this year, including the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. He also believes that the North Korean authorities are violating the inter-Korean agreement on reducing military tensions of September 19, 2018.

“Recently, North Korea even launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, seriously threatening peace and stability not only on the Korean peninsula, but throughout the world,” the minister said.

Earlier it was reported that the wording on the recognition of the DPRK as an adversary could be published in the new version of the White Paper. This document is published every two years. The designation of Pyongyang as an adversary in this document disappeared and reappeared in accordance with the improvement and deterioration of relations between Seoul and Pyongyang. Since 2018, South Korea has stopped calling North Korea an "enemy".