Kim Yo Jong warned South Korea that it would face the “most terrible and painful situation” if Seoul continued actions that Pyongyang calls interference in its internal affairs. She also announced specific measures along the border – new countermeasures will be put on high alert, and propaganda loudspeakers against South Korea will be ready for operation within a few days.
“If they continue to talk, obstruct and stubbornly insist on their current position, the ruling authorities will face the most terrible and painful situation”, Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency. She described her words not as a threat but as a “clear warning“.
Kim Yo Jong, director of a department at the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, said that North Korean tactical units had taken up new positions. She accused the South Korean military of using warning broadcasts and warning fire at several places along the border.
“If the warning fire causes harm to our territory or the safety of our servicemen, our border units will mercilessly destroy the armed bandits who are devoid of reason,“ she warned. North Korea is continuing to strengthen its southern border, she said, as part of a project Pyongyang presents as a defense of its territory.
Seoul: Warning shots are legal
South Korea's Ministry of National Defense said the broadcasts and warning shots along the military demarcation line were legitimate defensive measures. According to the department, they are intended to stop North Korean soldiers crossing the line during fortification work and force them to return.
Seoul warned that it would respond decisively if Pyongyang uses these actions as an excuse for new provocations. The South Korean government called on North Korea to stop truce violations and participate in talks on managing the disputed border area.
The dispute has escalated after North Korea's fortification activities along the border, including the installation of mines, fences and other obstacles. South Korea says North Korean soldiers have repeatedly crossed the military demarcation line while building the facilities. Pyongyang denies Seoul's accusations that it was responsible for a mine explosion that injured South Korean soldiers.
The return of the loudspeakers would restore a practice that the two Koreas have used on each other in recent years. South Korea halted its broadcasts and dismantled some of the fixed facilities as a measure to reduce tensions, after which North Korea also suspended its own broadcasts.
Sources: reuters.com, en.yna.co.kr, apnews.com