South Korea drops ‘enemy’ reference for North Korea

Seoul crossed out a reference to nuclear-armed North Korea as its enemy in a defense white paper published on Tuesday, amid warming ties despite stalled nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington.

South Korea has stopped calling North Korea an "enemy" in its biennial defense document, an apparent effort to continue reconciliation with Pyongyang.

The development comes as US and North Korean leaders are looking to set up their second summit to defuse an international stand-off over the North's nuclear program.

For years South Korea and the United States have carried out large-scale military drills against potential attacks from the North, while Pyongyang has repeatedly threatened to turn Seoul into a sea of fire.

But ties between the two Koreas have warmed significantly in recent months under the South's dovish President Moon Jae-in, who has held three summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un since taking office in May 2017.

The 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, placing a heavily fortified border across the peninsula and leaving it still technically at war.

South Korea first called North Korea a "main enemy" in its 1995 document, a year after North Korea threatened to turn Seoul into "sea of fire."

During a previous era of detente in the 2000s, South Korea had avoided using the reference, but it revived the "enemy" terminology in its defense document after attacks blamed on North Korea killed 50 South Koreans in 2010.

In the latest defense document, South Korea's military said it considers unspecified "forces which threaten (South Korea)'s sovereignty, territory, citizens, and property our enemy."

The change in terminology is certain to draw harsh criticism from conservatives in South Korea, who argue liberal President Moon Jae-in's push to engage the North has deeply undermined the country's security posture.

Under tension-easing agreements reached after Moon's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in September, the two Koreas demolished some of their front-line guard posts, established buffer zones along their frontier and demilitarised their shared border village.

Prospects for a second US-North Korea summit have been boosted after Kim traveled to China last week in what experts say was a trip aimed at coordinating positions ahead of talks with Trump.