Tensions on the Korean Peninsula rose again after North Korea ordered troops along its southern border to be ready to fire and military leaders in Seoul said Pyongyang might be preparing to blow up roads connecting the two nations.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected efforts under way in North Korea to destroy the eastern and western roads connecting the two nations, warning that an explosion could take place as early as yesterday.
That followed North Korea’s announcement last week that it would “completely separate” its territory from the South, blaming Seoul’s joint drills with the US and the deployment of US strategic assets in the region for exacerbating tensions.
Photo: AFP
North Korea also accused Seoul of flying drones over its capital to drop propaganda leaflets filled with “inflammatory rumors and rubbish,” and Sunday said it would consider it “a declaration of war” if another drone was detected.
Seoul’s military has denied it was behind the flights, with local speculation centered on activist groups in the South that have long sent propaganda and US currency northwards, typically by balloon.
However, the North insists Seoul is officially to blame, announcing late on Sunday it had told eight artillery brigades already on war footing “to get fully ready to open fire” and also reinforced air observation posts in Pyongyang.
“North Korea has frequently created an atmosphere of crisis in inter-Korean relations when they needed to,” South Korean Ministry of Unification spokesman Koo Byoung-sam said, when asked about the latest developments.
Seoul officials have previously warned that North Korea might be considering a nuclear test closer to the US presidential election.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it is monitoring North Korea’s activities and is ready to counter any provocations.
Blaming Pyongyang for the current crisis, it criticized North Korea’s repeated deployment of thousands of balloons filled with trash and other debris toward the South.
“The cause of this whole situation lies in North Korea’s trash balloons,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. “We strongly warn North Korea to halt sending the filthy and vulgar trash balloons.”
North Korea has sent the trash-filled balloons across the border since late May in a show of anger at South Korea’s joint military drills with the US and other actions which Pyongyang said represent a threat to its sovereignty. The balloons have been a recurring nuisance for Seoul and surrounding areas, with some causing fires.
South Korea has also found some of the balloons to be carrying GPS transmitters, in a possible bid by Pyongyang to enhance the precision of efforts to dump trash and gather data, the South Korean Ministry of Defense said yesterday.
North Korea’s Ministry of Defense has said that the “infiltration of drones” above its territory “constitutes an undeniable war provocation” by Seoul, adding that it would take action against any further incursions. As part of that response, the military directed artillery units to “get fully ready to open fire” for an immediate strike if necessary.
If it happens, the destruction of the roads connecting North and South Korea, which have never signed a peace agreement, would not be the first time Pyongyang razed symbols of rapprochement.
In 2020, the North blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in what appeared to be an attempt to draw maximum global attention with little immediate risk of war.
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