Image to help understand the article
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said North Korea is considering deploying additional tactical strike weapons near its southern border and resuming loudspeaker broadcasts directed at South Korea.
In a statement carried by state media on the 19th, Kim accused the South Korean military of escalating tensions by broadcasting warnings and firing warning shots when North Korean troops approach or cross the Military Demarcation Line, or MDL. The line divides the two Koreas within the Demilitarized Zone.
Kim, a senior Workers’ Party official, called the border situation “very unstable” and described South Korea’s actions as provocations. She rejected Seoul’s assessments that North Korean soldiers had crossed the MDL, calling them groundless accusations.
Warnings and Gunfire Along the Border
South Korea’s military broadcasts warnings when North Korean troops appear likely to cross the MDL. If they enter South Korean territory, troops fire warning shots under established rules of engagement to force them back.
According to the South Korean military, North Korean soldiers have recently crossed the line repeatedly while moving along a patrol route about 10 meters, or roughly 33 feet, south of the MDL on the eastern front.
Kim claimed South Korea conducted 2,870 loudspeaker warnings and fired warning shots on 201 occasions from Aug. 1 through Oct. 17. She said the activity intensified in October, including about 350 broadcasts and roughly 60 instances of warning fire at several locations over three days from Oct. 15 to 17. South Korea did not confirm those figures in the summary.
North Korea says its soldiers are fortifying the border, and Kim argued that South Korean warnings and gunfire threaten the workers and obstruct construction. North Korean troops have been observed conducting work believed to involve tactical roads and fencing in the border area.
Mine Blast Adds to Tensions
Kim linked the heightened tensions to a mine explosion in the western portion of the DMZ on Sept. 21 that injured three South Korean service members. North Korea has alleged without evidence that South Korea staged the incident.
North Korea had halted noise broadcasts toward the South after President Lee Jae Myung’s government stopped South Korean loudspeaker broadcasts early in his administration as a confidence-building measure. Kim’s latest statement raised the possibility that Pyongyang could restart those broadcasts in response to South Korea’s handling of border crossings.
Kim also accused Lee’s government, which has promoted reconciliation and peace, of pursuing a more confrontational policy toward North Korea than the conservative government of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. She warned that Seoul could face serious consequences and said North Korea does not defend its sovereignty “with words.”
Analysts See Pressure Tactic
Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the statement did not necessarily signal an intention to widen the conflict. He said North Korea appeared concerned that South Korea could strengthen its response procedures following the mine explosion, disrupting Pyongyang’s border fortification work.
Hong also said North Korea may be trying to establish a basis for blaming Seoul for any future military clash along the MDL while pressuring the Lee government with the threat of renewed broadcasts.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said Pyongyang appears to believe South Korea’s military response is interfering with border construction. He said Kim’s repeated statements also could be used to justify North Korea’s nuclear buildup and its policy of treating the two Koreas as hostile states.
Comments
Post a Comment