South Korean troops stood at maximum alert today with North Korea threatening to go to war unless Seoul meets a looming deadline to halt loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts across the border.
The North Korean People’s Army (KPA) said late yesterday that its frontline troops had moved into a “fully armed, wartime state” in line with the wishes of leader Kim Jong-Un and ahead of the 5:00 pm (0830 GMT) deadline today. The international community has long experience of North Korea’s particularly aggressive brand of diplomatic brinkmanship and, while there is concern over the potential for escalation, many see the situation as another exercise in attention-seeking by Pyongyang.
Given their past negotiating style and tactics, the likelihood that they will follow through with their threat of a military action is low.— James Kim, Research Fellow, Asan Institute think-tank, Seoul.
At the same time, Kim acknowledged that second-guessing Pyongyang’s game plan was always risky, and the possibility of a North Korean strike of some sort could not be ruled out. “If so, South Korea must have a firm, strong, and timely response to signal its resolve that it will not be intimidated. Anything less would be an invitation for further provocation,” he said.
North and South Korea have often exchanged threats over the years, and dozens of soldiers have been killed in clashes. Yet the two sides have always pulled back from all-out war.
But the tension represents a blow to South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s efforts to improve North-South ties, which have been virtually frozen since the deadly 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship. North Korea denies it’s involvement.
The whole situation on the Korean peninsula has been bad for years now, because there’s very little intra-Korean contact and that only makes a bad situation worse.
— Joel Wit, 38 North, a North Korea monitoring project at Johns Hopkins University, Washington.
North and South Korea traded harsh rhetoric late into Friday night.
South Korean government employees were ordered into emergency duty starting Friday, meaning they must work until 11 pm, including during the weekend, the Ministry of Personnel Management inforemed.
South Korean Vice Defence Minister Baek Seung-joo said on Friday that his government expected North Korea to fire at some of the 11 sites where Seoul has set up loudspeakers.
A military source told South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency on Saturday that there were signs the North Korean military was preparing to attack the loudspeakers, towing artillery to near the border. The defence ministry said it was checking the report.
The Blue House is calmly observing the situation and ready to respond strongly against any additional provocations.
— South Korean Spokeswoman to Reuters.
(With inputs from news agencies)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)