South Korea’s Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min Seok today backtracked on his comments made on Monday regarding North Korea’s status as a nation.

Kim criticized the North at a briefing held yesterday in Seoul, saying that North Korea is not a nation and that it exists only for one person.

Kim revised his comments on Tuesday, explaining that it is sad to see the North Korean people suffering, and the remarks were made in the hope of seeing the situation in the DPRK improve.

Kim added that a government’s role is to help its people pursue happiness but that the leaders in Pyongyang are not fulfilling this role, as they continue to routinely executive and violate the human rights of their citizens.

According to Yonhap, the remarks provoked an aggressive response from North Korean media outlet Uriminjokkiri, saying that North Korea “will not sit idle and watch … Kim Min Seok had better be ready to pay the steep price for his thoughtless and flagrant slander.”

An official at the Ministry of Unification told Yonhap under the condition of anonymity that Kim’s comment should be taken in the context of the complicated relationship between the two Koreas. The official said that the two countries are simultaneously partners and enemies, as the DPRK threatens South Korea’s national security.

The official added that Kim may have made the remarks because the Ministry of National Defense focuses on South Korea’s security issues.

The official also said that only one or two comments cannot be a breach of the non-slander clause that the two Koreas agreed to in February. However, whether the agreement has had a practical effect is controversial as the clause did not include any specific details.

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