Jubilee Post News & Views
Special desk
Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has said she has ordered the army to prepare entering in to the demilitarised zone dividing the two Koreas.
The threat is partly in response to defector groups in the South sending propaganda material north. Kim Yo-jong, has said she’d ordered the army to prepare. And the military now says it is ready to turn the front line into a fortress and heighten military vigilance.
Tensions between the two countries have been rising for some time over the cross-border leaflets, usually sent via balloons. South Korea’s defence ministry on Tuesday responded to the renewed threats by saying it was working with the US to closely monitor military moves in the North.
North and South Korea are separated by the so-called demilitarised zone (DMZ) – a buffer along the border that has separated the two countries since the Korean War in the 1950s. Tuesday, North Korean military said it was “studying an action plan” for the army to move into the zones that had been demilitarised.
The General Staff said it was on “high alert” and ready to “rapidly and thoroughly” implement any decisions by the government. The statement comes after the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatened military action against South.
“I feel it is high time to surely break with the South Korean authorities,” said Kim Yo-jong, who holds a senior role in the North’s political hierarchy and is the first women to have attained the position. She concluded with “Rubbish must be thrown into the dustbin.”
South Korea is taking these threats seriously. Intelligence has been stepped up along the DMZ and President Moon has appealed for calm – urging Pyongyang to avoid escalating tensions.
First, North Korea has a point about the anti-regime propaganda. The South Koreans did promise to prevent the leaflets being flown over the border as part of the inter-Korean agreement between President Moon and Kim Jong Un in 2018.
Secondly, Pyongyang is angry at Seoul for not challenging the United States’ insistence that strict sanctions should remain in place. So it is likely this is about something bigger. North Korea could be building to a crisis to punish the South and perhaps use the tension as leverage in future talks.
