N. Korea deletes state media articles using unification references

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks in a parliamentary meeting at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang, Jan. 15. Yonhap

North Korea has removed articles with unification references from the website of its state-run media outlet, after leader Kim Jong-un called South Korea the North's "primary foe" and vowed not to seek unification with the South.

As of Monday, a majority of the articles containing references to unification, such as "peaceful reunification," "great national unity" and "northern half," appear to have been deleted from the website of the North's Korean Central News Agency.

The move came as Kim has defined inter-Korean ties as relations between "two states hostile to each other" during a year-end party meeting.

In a speech on Jan. 16, Kim stressed that "linguistic remnants misinterpreting the north and the south as fellow countrymen" should not be used and that the "firm idea" viewing South Korea as a "primary foe" and "invariable principal enemy" should be instilled.

North Korea has since erased an image of the Korean Peninsula, viewed as a unification reference, from its major websites, as well as commemorative stamps, such as those of inter-Korean summits, from the website of its state-run stamp company. (Yonhap)