THE country’s military has warned of a “firm” response and resolute punishment for any further provocations by North Korea, saying it was “unacceptable” for Pyongyang to blame Seoul for escalating tensions.
North Korea has rejected claims it was behind an explosion that injured three soldiers last month inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the heavily-mined buffer area that has divided the two Koreas since their 1953 armistice, and mockingly dismissed calls for an apology.
Pyongyang said on Monday the situation along the two countries’ shared border was “grave” and that it was considering deploying additional “tactical strike means” to the area. It also decried what it claimed were nearly 1,000 “provocative” loudspeaker broadcasts and numerous warning shots fired by South Korean forces between Oct 1 and 17.
Seoul said yesterday, without specifying the number of occurrences, that it had used both loudspeakers and warning shots as “legitimate defensive measures to prevent North Korean troops from crossing the MDL (Military Demarcation Line) to drive back troops that have crossed it”.
The MDL is the border within the DMZ that separates the two countries.
Jin Yong-sung, chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, has accused Pyongyang of “baselessly shifting the blame for escalating military tensions onto our own military”.
“It is unacceptable that North Korea yesterday characterised our legitimate operational measures as a ‘provocation’,” Jin said, according to a statement.
Jin ordered the military to “respond with firm resolve” should North Korea use Seoul’s actions as a pretext for aggressive action, while the defence ministry warned they would be met with “resolute” punishment. — AFP
