Kim stresses to North Korean troops they should treat South Korea as a hostile foreign enemy

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reminded his troops to treat South Korea as a hostile foreign enemy and insisted that the North wouldn’t hesitate to attack its rival if the South infringes upon its sovereignty, state media said Friday.

Kim’s comments at an army headquarters came after North Korea this week confirmed that it revised its constitution to define South Korea as “a hostile state” and blew up front-line road and rail links that were once connected to the South.

The steps punctuated Kim’s calls for North Korea to abandon its longstanding goals of reconciling with the South and reflect his intent to escalate tensions and increase leverage amid a deepening stalemate in diplomacy. Analysts see increasing risks of possible clashes along the rivals’ tense border areas, although it would be highly unlikely for the North to contemplate full-scale attacks in the face of superior U.S. and South Korean forces.

During a visit to the headquarters of the North Korean People’s Army’s 2nd Corps on Thursday, Kim stressed to troops the importance of understanding that any use of offensive force against the South would constitute a “legitimate retaliatory action against the hostile country, not the fellow countrymen.”

He said the North’s detonation of the border road and rail sections on Tuesday demonstrated the North’s resolve to cut off persistent “evil” relations with the South, which “lasted century after century and the complete removal of the useless awareness about fellow countrymen and unreasonable idea of reunification.”

He said the event was also a declaration that his troops wouldn’t hesitate to use physical force against the South, an “apparent hostile country,” if it violates North Korea’s sovereignty, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

South Korea had no immediate comment on Kim’s remarks.

North Korea has been making increasingly provocative threats against rival South Korea in recent weeks, including accusing the South of infiltrating drones to drop anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang this month and threatening to attack if it happens again. South Korea has refused to confirm whether it sent drones but warned that North Korea will face an overwhelming response that would “end its regime” if the safety of South Korean citizens is threatened.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have spiked since 2022, as Kim used Russia’s war on Ukraine as a window to dial up his weapons testing activities and threats. Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have strengthened their combined military exercises in response and took steps to sharpen their nuclear deterrence strategies built around strategic U.S. assets.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told the Associated Press earlier this month that North Korea will likely attempt to ramp up pressure with major provocations around the U.S. presidential elections in November, possibly including a long-range missile test or a nuclear test detonation, to grab Washington's attention.

Find more of AP's Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

South Korean army K-9 self-propelled howitzers move in Paju, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean army K-9 self-propelled howitzers move in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korean army K-9 self-propelled howitzers park in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A South Korean army K-9 self-propelled howitzer moves in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left on red carpet, visits the headquarters of the North Korean People’s Army’s 2nd Corps at an undisclosed place in North Korea Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, visits the headquarters of the North Korean People’s Army’s 2nd Corps at an undisclosed place in North Korea Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. 8(Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, visits the headquarters of the North Korean People’s Army’s 2nd Corps at an undisclosed place in North Korea Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) —

A Texas appellate court reversed a judge's order to delay Thursday night's planned execution of a man who would become the first person in the U.S. to be put to death for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome.

The ruling by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals was immediately appealed to the Texas Supreme Court as supporters of inmate Robert Roberson sought to spare him from execution for his conviction in killing his 2-year-old daughter in 2002.

Gov. Greg Abbott has authority to delay Roberson’s punishment for 30 days. But Abbott has halted only one imminent execution in nearly a decade as governor.

The Texas appeals court ruling capped a flurry of legal decisions in the hours before Roberson’s scheduled lethal injection after 6 p.m. Thursday.

At the same time a state judge in Austin was issuing a temporary restraining order, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to halt the execution, although Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a 10-page statement about the case, urged Abbott to grant a 30-day delay.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A last-ditch effort to stop Texas from executing an autistic man in a shaken baby case stretched into the final hours Thursday night as one judge granted an extraordinary maneuver by lawmakers to delay the lethal injection while the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for it to proceed.

The judge granted a Texas House committee's request for a temporary restraining order to delay the execution of Robert Roberson so the condemned man could testify next week about his case at a hearing by lawmakers.

Roberson was scheduled Thursday evening to become the first person in the U.S. executed for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. The lawmakers on the committee, both Republicans and Democrats, are part of a diverse coalition who say Roberson is innocent in the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter and was convicted on faulty scientific evidence.

The order by state District Judge Jessica Mangrum was expected to be quickly appealed by the Texas Attorney General’s Office to the state's top criminal appeals court, which has previously denied requests by Roberson to delay his planned lethal injection.

The state’s legal fight to get the execution carried out faced a midnight CDT deadline when the death warrant authorizing Roberson's execution would expire. It was likely, however, the case would need to be resolved well before that since officials must conduct procedures such as attaching intravenous needles and allow time for an injection to take effect and a physician to pronounce him dead.

“This is an extraordinary remedy the Legislature is seeking. But it is not undue. The Legislature is allowed this constitutional authority,” state Rep. Jeff Leach, a Republican and member of the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, said during the Zoom court hearing.

The order was granted around the same time the U.S. Supreme Court refused to halt the execution plan, though Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote to urge Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to grant a 30-day delay.

“That could prevent a miscarriage of justice from occurring: executing a man who has raised credible evidence of actual innocence,” Sotomayor wrote.

Roberson, 57, was convicted of killing of his daughter, Nikki Curtis, in the East Texas city of Palestine. Roberson has long proclaimed his innocence, backed by some notable Republican lawmakers, Texas GOP megadonor and conservative activist Doug Deason and the lead detective on the case. Roberson's lawyers and some medical experts say his daughter died not from abuse but from complications related to pneumonia.

“He’s an innocent man and we’re very close to killing him for something he did not do,” said Brian Wharton, the lead detective with Palestine police who investigated Curtis’ death.

Roberson’s lawyers waited to see if Abbott would grant Roberson a one-time 30-day reprieve. It’s the only action Abbott can take in the case as the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Wednesday denied Roberson’s clemency petition.

The board voted unanimously, 6-0, to not recommend that Roberson’s death sentence be commuted to life in prison or that his execution be delayed. All members of the board are appointed by the governor. The parole board has recommended clemency in a death row case only six times since the state resumed executions in 1982.

In his nearly 10 years as governor, Abbott has halted only one imminent execution, in 2018 when he spared the life of Thomas Whitaker.

“We pray that Governor Abbott does everything in his power to prevent the tragic, irreversible mistake of executing an innocent man,” Gretchen Sween, one of Roberson’s attorneys, said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Abbott did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

The Texas committee on Wednesday held an all-day meeting on Roberson's case. In a surprise move at the end of the hearing, the committee issued a subpoena for Roberson to testify next week.

During its meeting in Austin, the committee heard testimony about Roberson’s case and whether a 2013 law created to allow people in prison to challenge their convictions based on new scientific evidence was ignored in Roberson’s case.

Anderson County District Attorney Allyson Mitchell, whose office prosecuted Roberson, told the committee a court hearing was held in 2022 in which Roberson’s attorneys presented their new evidence to a judge, who rejected their claims.

“Based on the totality of the evidence, a murder took place here. Mr. Roberson took the life of his almost 3-year-old daughter,” Mitchell said.

Most of the members of the committee are part of a bipartisan group of more than 80 state lawmakers, including at least 30 Republicans, who had asked the parole board and Abbott to stop the execution.

Roberson’s case has renewed debate over shaken baby syndrome, known in the medical community as abusive head trauma.

His lawyers as well as the Texas lawmakers, medical experts and others including bestselling author John Grisham say his conviction was based on faulty and now outdated scientific evidence. The diagnosis refers to a serious brain injury caused when a child’s head is hurt through shaking or some other violent impact, like being slammed against a wall or thrown on the floor.

Roberson’s supporters don’t deny head and other injuries from child abuse are real. But they say doctors misdiagnosed Curtis’ injuries as being related to shaken baby syndrome and that new evidence has shown the girl died from complications related to severe pneumonia.

Roberson’s attorneys say his daughter had fallen out of bed in Roberson’s home after being seriously ill for a week.

Roberson’s lawyers also suggested his autism, which was undiagnosed at the time of his daughter’s death, was used against him as authorities became suspicious of him because of his lack of emotion over what had happened to her. Autism affects how people communicate and interact with others.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, other medical organizations and prosecutors say the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome is valid and doctors look at all possible things, including any illnesses, when determining if injuries were attributable to it.

Roberson’s scheduled execution would come less than a month after Missouri put to death Marcellus Williams amid lingering questions about his guilt and whether his death sentence should have instead been commuted to life in prison.

Roberson's execution was scheduled to take place on the same day Alabama was set to execute Derrick Dearman, condemned for killing five people with an ax and gun during a 2016 drug-fueled rampage.

Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at https://x.com/juanlozano70.

Prison staff gather at the main entrance of the building housing the execution chamber as Robert Roberson awaits his execution, at the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Texas state representatives Lacey Hull, left, and John Bucy III, speak to reporters on the pending execution of Robert Roberson during an impromptu press conference outside of the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Prison staff gather at the main entrance of the building housing the execution chamber as Robert Roberson awaits his execution, at the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Texas State Rep. John Bucy III speaks to reporters on the pending execution of Robert Roberson during an impromptu press conference outside of the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Texas state representatives Lacey Hull, left, and John Bucy III, speak to reporters on the pending execution of Robert Roberson during an impromptu press conference outside of the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Elizabeth Ramirez, center, Casandra Rivera, center right, and Anna Vasquez, second from right, of the "San Antonio 4" group, deliver boxes with petitions in the Texas State capitol for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott seeking the pardoning of Robert Roberson's execution, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, in Austin, Texas. Roberson, 57, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Oct. 17, for the 2002 killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in the East Texas city of Palestine. Roberson has long proclaimed his innocence. (AP Photo/Nadia Lathan)

Casandra Rivera, left, Anna Vasquez, second from left, and Elizabeth Ramirez, center, of the "San Antonio 4" group, hold boxes with petitions being delivered in the Texas State capitol for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott seeking the pardoning of Robert Roberson's execution, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Roberson, 57, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Oct. 17, for the 2002 killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in the East Texas city of Palestine. Roberson has long proclaimed his innocence. (AP Photo/Nadia Lathan)

Texas man set to be first in US executed over shaken baby syndrome makes last appeals

FILE - Texas lawmakers meet with Robert Roberson at a prison in Livingston, Texas, Sept. 27, 2024. (Criminal Justice Reform Caucus via AP, File)

Texas man set to be first in US executed over shaken baby syndrome makes last appeals