Kim Jong Un brands S. Korea his country's 'principal enemy'

North Korea's Kim Jong Un has branded South Korea his country's "principal enemy", and warned that he would not hesitate to annihilate it, as he toured major weapons factories, state media said on Jan 10.

The report follows recent live-fire exercises by Pyongyang's military near the contested maritime border that prompted counter-drills and evacuation orders for residents on two South Korean border islands.

Images in state media showed Mr Kim, in a full-length black leather jacket, standing in front of what analysts said were short-range ballistic missile launchers, purportedly nuclear-capable.

"The historic time has come at last when we should define as a state most hostile toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea the entity called the Republic of Korea (South Korea)," Mr Kim was reported as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Mr Kim, urging factory workers to modernise and "produce more weapons", said he has "no intention of avoiding a war" and warned that he would have no hesitation in "annihilating" South Korea, KCNA added.