SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said on Sunday that its front-line army units were ready to launch strikes on South Korea, ramping up pressure on the rival it said had flown. the drones and dropped leaflets over the capital Pyongyang.
South Korea has refused to confirm whether it has sent the drones, but has warned that it will punish North Korea severely if its citizens’ safety is threatened.
North Korea on Friday accused South Korea of launching propaganda leaflet drones over Pyongyang three times this month and he threatened to respond with force if it happens again
In a statement carried by state media on Sunday, the North’s Defense Ministry said the military had issued an operational order to artillery and other army units near the South Korean border to “be fully prepared to open fire.”
An unidentified ministry spokesman said the North Korean military had ordered key units to be fully prepared to launch immediate strikes on unspecified enemy targets when South Korea’s drones infiltrate across the border again, possibly triggering fighting on the Korean peninsula, according to the statement.
The spokesman said that “serious military tensions and tensions are prevailing on the Korean Peninsula” over South Korea’s drone strikes. In another statement later Sunday, the spokesman said the entire territory of South Korea “could turn into a pile of ashes” after the North’s powerful attack.
Also on Sunday, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called it “suicide” as South Korea’s Defense Ministry warned that North Korea would face the end of its regime if it harms South Korean citizens. He warned on Saturday that the discovery of a new South Korean drone would “certainly lead to a massive catastrophe”.
North Korea often engages in such fiery and outrageous rhetoric at a time of heightened hostility with South Korea and the United States.
Ties between the two Koreas have remained strained since US-led diplomacy to end North Korea’s nuclear program broke down in 2019. North Korea has since pushed hard to expand its nuclear arsenal and has repeatedly threatened to attack South Korea and the US with nuclear weapons. But experts say North Korea is highly unlikely to launch an attack because its military is outnumbered by the combined forces of the US and South Korea.
Observers predicted North Korea would escalate tensions ahead of next month US presidential election to increase its leverage with the Americans in future diplomacy.
Since May, North Korea has been floating thousands balloons carrying garbage towards South Korea, while flying balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets against South Korean activists. The South Korean military responded by restarting the North’s balloon campaign border speakers to broadcast propaganda and K-pop songs to North Korea.
North Korea is extremely sensitive to any criticism of Kim Jong Un’s authoritarian rule and his family’s dynastic rule.
