The powerful sister of North Korea’s leader said that “a grave situation is prevailing” along the Southern border, according to state media, and Pyongyang was considering deploying “more tactical strike means” to the area.
Yesterday’s announcement comes amid heightened tensions between the two Koreas, with the nuclear-armed North stepping up weapons tests in recent days, including of a “new-type” precision-guided torpedo system that uses artificial intelligence to detect and track targets.
“Now the situation of the southern border is very unstable,” Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, said.
“A grave situation is prevailing along the southern border due to the reckless behaviour of the ROK military gangsters,” she said in the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
Citing South Korea’s firing of warning shots, broadcasts from propaganda loudspeakers and what she called a “mine explosion farce”, Kim said the incidents had “gone beyond the red line”.
North Korea has rejected claims it was behind an explosion that injured three soldiers last month inside the Demilitarised Zone.
A joint Seoul-United Nations Command investigation concluded the blast was caused by North Korean mines laid on the South Korean side of the border.
“Our military leadership is examining the issues of deploying more tactical strike means along the southern border as a preemptive and suppressive measure to deal with contingency,” said Kim, but did not specify the details of the tactical strike.
Kim also added that the North is reviewing “resuming the loudspeaker broadcasting against the ROK and considering other necessary and appropriate measures”.
She warned that if the actions were to continue, “Seoul will surely regret and face uncontrollably terrible danger”. — AFP
