S Korea drops ‘main enemy’ tag for North

‘‘The existing expression of the main enemy North Korea has been replaced by an explanation of the North’s specific military threat, such as its conventional weapons, weapons of mass destruction, and its forward deployment of military power,’’ the Defence Ministry said in briefing notes to the White Paper.

The North stopped using hostile language when referring to the South after an unprecedented summit between the two Koreas in 2000, the White Paper said, citing this as a reason for dropping the main enemy tag. The paper said there was no conclusive evidence that North Korea possessed nuclear weapons, but that Pyongyang ‘‘has been operating a five-megawatt nuclear reactor capable of producing additional plutonium since February 2003’’.

Military tension remains high despite warming political and commercial ties, and clashes in the Yellow Sea in recent years have killed or injured dozens of sailors on both sides. —Reuters