Pyongyang, North Korea - North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wants to enshrine the designation of South Korea as enemy state number one in his country's constitution.

In a speech to parliament in Pyongyang, Kim emphasized that reunification with their southern neighbor is no longer possible, state-controlled media reported on Tuesday.

Expressions such as "independence, peaceful reunification, and great national unity" must be deleted from the constitution, Kim demanded.

The situation on the Korean peninsula is tenser than it has been for years and Kim threatened the South with war if "even 0.001 millimeters" of the North's territory is violated.

Russia Kremlin thinks US got Putin's message after unprecedented missile attack on Ukraine

Pyongyang also abolished agencies that oversaw cooperation and reunification.

"We do not want war, but we also have no intention of avoiding it," He was quoted as saying by KCNA Watch, an organization which monitors North Korean media.

Kim stated that a constitutional amendment must make it clear that all North Koreans must be taught the idea "the firm idea that ROK is their primary foe and invariable principal enemy."

In Seoul, President Yoon Suk Yeol told his cabinet that should the nuclear-armed North carry out a provocation, South Korea would hit back with a response "multiple times stronger," pointing to his military's "overwhelming response capabilities."