South Korea vows 'resolute punishment' if North Korea acts on border threats

SEOUL — South Korea’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday it would “punish it resolutely” if North Korea carries out further provocations, after Pyongyang threatened to deploy additional “tactical strike means” along the heavily armed border.

In a statement, the ministry said it viewed with “grave concern” North Korea’s threats to strengthen its military posture and resume loudspeaker broadcasts towards the South. It said South Korea’s own broadcasts and warning shots near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) were “legitimate defensive measures” aimed at preventing incursions and forcing North Korean troops who had crossed the line to withdraw.

Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Jin Young-seung visited a frontline army command on Tuesday, reviewed military readiness and ordered operations aimed at strengthening Seoul’s initiative in the Demilitarized Zone, the military said in a separate statement.

“We cannot tolerate North Korea falsely characterising our legitimate operational measures as provocations and shifting responsibility for heightened military tensions onto our military,” Jin said.

The warnings followed a statement on Monday by Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who said a “grave situation is prevailing” along the border and claimed Seoul had carried out 998 loudspeaker broadcasts and fired 91 warning shots between 1 and 17 October.

Jin also called the September landmine blast that seriously wounded three South Korean soldiers a “clear provocation” and a violation of the armistice agreement, blaming North Korean mines laid south of the MDL — a conclusion Pyongyang has rejected while refusing Seoul’s demand for an official apology.

Analysts said the standoff had increased the risk of a military clash along the border, the worst escalation in years between the two Koreas.