Kim Jong Un Re-elected as North Korean Leader: South Korea is Our Enemy, Any Rule Violation Will Be Met with Retaliation

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been re-elected as Chairman of the State Affairs Commission at the first session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly held on Sunday (22/3/2026). In his keynote address, Kim officially designated South Korea as the principal enemy state and warned that any violations would be met with unrelenting retaliation.

Kim Jong Un was born between 1983 and 1984 as the fifth son of the previous leader, Kim Jong Il, and grandson of North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung. He unexpectedly inherited the leadership in 2011 following his father’s death, when he was still in his late twenties.

Throughout his leadership, Kim has consistently strengthened his position through structural reorganisations. In 2016, he established the State Affairs Commission as the country’s supreme body and appointed himself as its chairman. Three years later, through constitutional amendments, he was officially granted the status of head of state and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army.

Within the party, Kim was re-elected as general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea at a significant congress held in February 2026, the first such congress in five years. His party title had evolved from ‘first secretary’ at the start of his rule to ‘chairman’ in 2016, and then to ‘general secretary’ in 2021.

Under his leadership, North Korea has dramatically bolstered its nuclear capabilities. Kim affirmed that the country’s status as a nuclear-armed state ‘will never change’, pledging to maintain a swift and precise nuclear response posture.

Declaration of ‘Enemy State’ at Parliamentary Session

In his keynote address at the first session of North Korea’s 15th Supreme People’s Assembly, Kim Jong Un officially declared South Korea as the principal enemy state.

‘We will regard South Korea as the most hostile country, completely rejecting and ignoring it with the clearest words and actions,’ Kim stated, as quoted by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and Sputnik on Monday (23/3/2026).

This statement marks a fundamental shift in inter-Korean policy. Since the end of 2023, Kim has introduced the doctrine of ‘two hostile states’, which is now officially codified in his foreign policy.