The military said it had seen no signs of newly-deployed North Korean weapons on their shared border, hours after Pyongyang said new “counter means” would be put on alert along its length.
Pyongyang has rejected claims it was behind an explosion that injured three South Korean soldiers last month inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the heavily- mined buffer area that has divided the two Koreas since their 1953 armistice, and dismissed calls for an apology.
The country on Monday called the situation along the border “grave”, saying it was considering deploying additional “tactical strike means” to the area.
Yesterday, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong-un, said the North would place loudspeakers on standby along the border “within days” and had put unspecified “new counter means” on alert.
The statement came less than 24 hours after Yo-jong announced Pyongyang had moved new troop units into “firing position” after a visit to the border.
Both countries have occasionally turned to loudspeakers blaring propaganda across their shared border and other psychological warfare methods.
But Seoul’s military said yesterday that it has seen no sign of new weapons being deployed so far.
“We have not observed any signs that North Korea is deploying new types of weaponry,” Jang Do-young, spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.
“Nevertheless, given their claims, we are keeping a close watch on the situation,” he added.
Asked about the North’s loudspeaker claims, Jang said “routine maintenance work” had been observed even before it had issued its latest statements.
He said Pyongyang’s recent flurry of statements only suggested that the South’s ongoing efforts to clear landmines inside the DMZ were “proving effective”.
South Korea’s foreign ministry said yesterday it planned to send a letter to the UN Security Council over the landmine incident.
The letter will “explain that the explosion was caused by a landmine planted by North Korean troops, constituting a clear violation of the armistice agreement”, Park Doo-soon, spokesperson for Seoul’s foreign ministry, said.
It will also demand an apology from North Korea, while calling for dialogue to prevent further escalation of tensions and restore trust, he added. — AFP
