(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Bo-ram Yoon = North Korean Workers' Party General Affairs Director Kim Yo-jong announced on the 19th that she was considering deploying increased military power and resuming loudspeaker broadcasts to South Korea, protesting against the South Korean military's measures such as warning shots in response to violations of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).
The Korean Central News Agency reported that Director Kim expressed this position in a statement this afternoon titled, “We do not protect sovereignty with words.”
Director Kim said, “The situation on the southern border is very unstable right now,” and “A bloody situation is being created in the southern border area due to the reckless behavior of Korean military thugs.”
He passed on responsibility, saying that in the event of an MDL violation during North Korea's so-called 'border line fortification' work, the South Korean military's warning broadcasts and warning shots would threaten the safety of the North Korean military and intensify the situation.
He also described the South Korean military's loudspeaker warning broadcast as a 'provocation' and called the South Korean military's judgment that it was a violation of the MDL a 'groundless cavil.'
According to the rules of engagement, the military will broadcast a warning if there are signs of invasion, such as when North Korean troops approach the MDL, and if they invade south of the MDL, they will fire warning shots and take action to evict.
Regarding this, Director Kim claimed, "From August 1st to October 17th, there were as many as 2,870 loudspeaker warning broadcast provocations and 201st warning shots," adding, "The enemy's sparring has become more blatant after manipulating the 'landmine explosion play' and is crossing the line."
In particular, "The places where warning broadcast provocations are frequent are the guard posts in the areas of the 7th and 15th Infantry Divisions of the 2nd Corps and the 21st and 22nd Infantry Divisions of the 3rd Corps of the Korean Army, and the place where warning shooting provocations are frequently carried out is the 278th Military Police Post in the Demilitarized Zone of the 21st Infantry Division of the 3rd Corps," he said. "From October 1 to 17 alone, loudspeaker warning broadcasts were made. “There were 998 provocations and 91 warning shots,” he said, listing specific figures.
At the same time, he pointed out, "In particular, during the period from October 15th to 17th, in various areas of the southern border, they simultaneously carried out serious acts of escalating the situation by making about 350 provocative warning broadcasts through loudspeakers and firing warning shots about 60 times."
He continued, "In response to the current situation, as a preemptive and suppressive measure, our military leadership is reviewing the issue of reinforcing the deployment of tactical strike means near the entire southern border in case of an emergency and resuming Korean loudspeaker broadcasts, and is also considering such measures as are deemed necessary and appropriate."
North Korea stopped loudspeaker broadcasts to South Korea after the Lee Jae-myung administration stopped loudspeaker broadcasts to North Korea as a preemptive measure of trust in the early days of its launch. It is interpreted as a threat to resume the MDL border crossing under the pretext of our military's response.
In addition, following the statement made at the end of last month that mentioned 'reinforcement of tactical counterattack means', the deployment of 'tactical strike means' was again threatened, and the possibility of direct fire and reinforcement of close-range firepower of troops adjacent to the DMZ was mentioned.
Director Kim also fiercely criticized the Lee Jae-myung administration, saying, "The anti-Republican government of the Lee Jae-myung administration, which has promoted 'reconciliation' and 'peace' from the beginning of its administration and presented a 'conciliatory appearance,' is far surpassing the vicious conservative Yoon Seok-yeol government, which was blatantly promoting anti-communism."
At the same time, he threatened, “Seoul will definitely regret it and face an unbearable risk due to the useless tricks of a group of military thugs.”
Regarding the statement, Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said, "It is not the concept of expanding the war, but the intention seems to be a strong intention to respond in advance to avoid disruption in the border fortification work due to concerns about the possibility of strengthening the response manual due to the increased sensitivity of the Korean military after the mine explosion."
He went on to say, “There is also an aspect of building justification to shift responsibility for military conflict that may occur in the future (in the MDL) to the South,” and analyzed that the decision to bring up the card to resume broadcasting to South Korea, specifically mentioning the previous government, was intended to put pressure on the Lee Jae-myung government.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, also analyzed that North Korea's judgment was based on the fact that the border fortification work would be hindered by the response of the South Korean military in the MDL area.
Professor Yang said, "Director Kim's multiple statements regarding this issue are, on the one hand, his own admission that the South Korean military is responding strongly, and on the other hand, his intention is to use this as a justification for advancing nuclear capabilities and the hostile two-state line."
