Kim Jong Un threatens to use nuclear weapons and destroy South Korea if provoked

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has threatened to use nuclear weapons to destroy South Korea if it provokes him. The threat comes after South Korean leaders warned that the Kim regime would collapse if Kim attempted to use nuclear weapons, according to an Associated Press report Friday, citing North Korean state media.

Kim told a visit to special operations forces Wednesday that the military would “use force without hesitation.” “If South Korea attempts to use force to infringe upon North Korea’s sovereignty, we have everything we have, including nuclear weapons,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

“If that happens, Seoul and the Republic of Korea will disappear forever,” Kim said.

Kim’s comments were a response to South Korean President Yoon Seok-youl’s Memorial Day speech on Tuesday.

Unveiling South Korea’s most powerful Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile and other weapons capable of targeting North Korea, Yoon said the day North Korea uses nuclear weapons would mean the end of the Kim regime, and that it would be met with a “massive and resolute response” from the South Korea-U.S. alliance.