North Korea could stage provocations such as armed actions near the border with South Korea, drone intrusions, cyberattacks or spreading disinformation to interfere in the South Korean parliamentary elections in April, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said yesterday.
Yoon made the remarks as he convened an annual meeting of the central integrated defense council that brings together the military, government and civil defense entities.
In the past few weeks, Pyongyang has ramped up tensions on the Korean Peninsula with missile tests and threats against Seoul and Washington, while scrapping its decades-long goal of a peaceful reunification and redefining the South as a separate, enemy state.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Yoon said that North Korea could stage “numerous provocations” to intervene in the upcoming election and called for a tighter security posture.
South Korea is set to elect new members of parliament on April 10, with 300 seats up for grab.
“The North Korean regime is going through fire and water solely for the sake of maintaining its hereditary totalitarian regime, while blatantly ignoring international law and UN Security Council resolutions by trading arms with Russia,” Yoon told the meeting.
Russia and North Korea have overseen a series of high-level exchanges since last year amid growing criticism of Pyongyang’s role in the Ukraine war by allegedly shipping artillery and missiles to Russia.
North Korea and Russia deny the accusation and also the charge that Pyongyang has been receiving advanced technology for developing strategic military capability from Moscow in return.
Yoon called for greater cooperation between his country’s military, government, police and private actors, as well as additional measures to prevent possible cyberattacks on national infrastructure, and attempts to disseminate propaganda.
“Cyberattacks can paralyze national functions and people’s daily lives in an instant. Fake news and false propaganda may also cause great chaos in society,” he said.
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