Seoul vows 'resolute punishment' after North Korea threatens new border measures

South Korea on Tuesday vowed a stern response if North Korea acts on threats to strengthen its military posture along the border, Reuters reported.

In a statement, Seoul’s Defence Ministry expressed grave concern over Pyongyang’s threats to deploy additional tactical strike weapons along the border and resume loudspeaker broadcasts towards the South.

The ministry said South Korea’s broadcasts and warning shots near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) were a “legitimate defensive measure” aimed at preventing incursions.

“If North Korea uses our legitimate measures as a pretext to carry out further provocations, we will punish it resolutely,” the ministry said, urging Pyongyang to drop groundless claims, halt MDL incursions and respond to efforts to resolve differences.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Jin Young-seung reviewed frontline readiness and ordered operations to strengthen Seoul’s initiative in the Demilitarized Zone. “We cannot tolerate North Korea falsely characterising our legitimate operational measures as provocations,” he said.

The warnings followed Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, accusing the South Korean military of endangering North Korean soldiers by firing warning shots during Pyongyang’s border-fortification work. Her threat to revive loudspeaker broadcasts risks reversing a de-escalation measure President Lee Jae Myung has touted as an early achievement of his diplomacy-restart efforts.

South Korea said this month that Pyongyang had deployed as many as 7,000 workers to the border area this year and that North Korean personnel had crossed the MDL on about 50 occasions.

(Sources: Reuters; The Korea Times/Yonhap)