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One less Korea
North Korean authorities have deployed artillery along the border with South Korea and may be planning to damage roads connecting the north and south of the Korean Peninsula. The most serious conflict between the neighboring countries during President Yun Seok-yol’s rule occurred after a drone carrying South Korean leaflets violated North Korean airspace three times last October. The North Korean leader’s younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, threatened that the arrival of more South Korean drones would bring “terribly tragic consequences” to Seoul. The government responded by warning that if North Korea’s military power threatened the security of our people, the North Korean regime would be destroyed.
A North Korean artillery division is on full alert near the South Korean border, the Korean Central News Agency reported Monday. The General Staff of the Korean People's Army ordered eight combat-level artillery brigades to prepare to fire on the enemy from 8 p.m. Sunday (2 p.m. Moscow time), it said.
North Korean authorities may also be preparing to blow up roads connecting North Korea to the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, along the Gyoniseong and Donghae lines, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Monday, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean military.
The first line is on the western side of the Korean Peninsula and connects the cities of Kaesong (North Korea) and Paju (South Korea), while the second line is on the coast of the East Sea. Late last week, the North Korean General Staff threatened to take “practical measures for gradual territorial demarcation,” block roads and railways with South Korea, and “turn the border into a fortress.” The government denounced the decision as “a betrayal of the aspirations for the unification of the people of the Republic of Korea and the people of North Korea.”
The most serious situation on the Korean Peninsula since President Yun Seok-yol took power in South Korea in the spring of 2022 came after North Korea's Foreign Ministry issued an ultimatum last Friday demanding that it stop sending drones to the North. According to a North Korean diplomatic statement, South Korean drones entered Pyongyang's airspace three times in October this year to distribute political leaflets.
Regarding the incident in North Korean airspace, the North Korean Foreign Ministry warned that the Korean People's Army would mobilize all offensive weapons to destroy military infrastructure near the southern border and inside South Korea. The North Korean Ministry of National Defense also warned in a statement that North Korea "will regard the appearance of a South Korean drone in North Korean airspace as a declaration of war and will act at North Korea's discretion." A North Korean military spokesman said, "We believe that the South Korean military was involved in the drone intrusion incident," the Korean Central News Agency reported.
Questions still remain about who made the decision, and at what level, to launch the drones that violated North Korean airspace three times this month, and whether South Korean government officials were involved in the provocation. Korea's explanation appears confusing.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that our military was not involved in the incident, and suggested that it could have been carried out by an individual or group. At the time, Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun told a hearing in the National Assembly that the South Korean military did not launch the drone, but added that he did not have enough information. He later said that the government could neither confirm nor deny North Korea’s claims.
In this situation, Kim Yo Jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and vice-chairwoman of the Workers' Party Central Committee, made a very sharp statement on Sunday. "We do not care at all who is behind this provocation. The provocation against the sovereignty of our Republic was committed either directly by the South Korean military or with their active support or connivance." Her brother remained silent. After that, she made a direct threat to Seoul. "Korea will suffer terrible and tragic consequences. As our Foreign Ministry stated, it is not our military that is planning to launch an attack and destroy the South Korean military," Kim Yo Jong noted. He also added that if Korean drones penetrate, "there will be no second warning."
On Monday, the North Korean leader’s sister issued another statement blaming the United States for the drone infiltration of South Korea. Kim Yo Jong concluded: “To the extent that the sovereignty of a nuclear-weapon state has been violated by hybrids tamed by the United States, the nuclear-weapon state must bear responsibility.”
South Korea's reaction to Kim Jong-un's sister's remarks was no less harsh. The South Korean side made it clear that it was ready to take on North Korea's challenge. The Ministry of National Defense said: "We clearly warn that the day North Korea threatens the security of our people will be the last day of the North Korean regime." Kim Yo-jong's remarks were assessed in Seoul as "hypocritical," and the repeated launching of garbage balloons toward South Korea as "vulgar tactics."
The propaganda war between Seoul and Pyongyang using flying objects has been going on for several years now, and as the cycle continues, inter-Korean relations inevitably deteriorate.
In the summer of 2020, during the administration of former President Moon Jae-in, activists from a South Korean NGO began releasing balloons with propaganda leaflets. So, unlike the current government, it has caused many problems for previous governments seeking to normalize diplomatic relations with North Korea.
Since President Yun Seok-yul took power in Seoul in 2022, five North Korean drones have entered South Korean airspace. One of them returned safely to North Korea after flying into the no-fly zone around Seoul’s Blue House. All four disappeared from radar while circling an island west of the South Korean capital. Despite a five-hour operation, our military failed to shoot down the drones.
Meanwhile, as the situation escalates, North Korea and South Korea have sharply increased the level of rhetoric promising to destroy each other.