North Korea said Sunday its frontline army units were ready to launch strikes against South Korea, increasing pressure on its rival which it said has flown drones and dropped leaflets at above its capital Pyongyang.
South Korea declined to confirm whether it had sent drones, but warned it would severely punish North Korea if the safety of its citizens was threatened.
North Korea on Friday accused South Korea of launching drones to drop propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang three times this month and threatened to respond with force if it happened again.
In a statement carried by state media on Sunday, North Korea’s Defense Ministry said the military had issued a preliminary operation order to artillery and other army units near the border with South Korea to “fully prepare to open fire.”
An unidentified ministry spokesperson said the North Korean military had ordered relevant units to fully prepare for situations such as launching immediate strikes on unspecified enemy targets when South Korea infiltrates again. drones across the border, possibly sparking fighting on the Korean Peninsula, the statement said.
The spokesperson said “serious military tensions prevail on the Korean Peninsula” due to South Korean drone launches. In a separate statement later Sunday, the spokesperson said the entire South Korean territory “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 the South Korean Defense Ministry’s warning that North Korea faces the end of its rule if it undermines the South Korean nationals. She warned Saturday that the discovery of a new South Korean drone “would certainly lead to a horrible disaster.”
North Korea often uses such fiery and virulent rhetoric during times of high animosity with South Korea and the United States.
Ties between the two Koreas remain strained since the failure of U.S.-led diplomacy to end North Korea’s nuclear program in 2019. North Korea has since made great efforts to expand its nuclear arsenal and has repeatedly threatened to attack South Korea and the United States with its nuclear weapons.
But experts say North Korea is unlikely to launch a large-scale attack because its military is outnumbered by the combined forces of the United States and South Korea.
Observers have predicted that North Korea will escalate tensions ahead of next month’s U.S. presidential election to increase its influence in future diplomacy with the Americans.
Since May, North Korea has floated thousands of balloons carrying trash to South Korea in retaliation for South Korean activists who flew their own balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets.
The South Korean military responded to the North’s balloon campaign by turning on loudspeakers at the border to broadcast propaganda and K-pop songs loudly to North Korea.
North Korea is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of the authoritarian government of Kim Jong-un and his family’s dynastic rule.
