North Korea has asked its border troops to take “swift and resolute action” if South Korean forces threaten their security, state media reported Wednesday, increasing the risk of clashes along the heavily armed border.
The report comes a day after Seoul vowed to “resolutely” punish any further provocations from Pyongyang if North Korea follows through on its threats to strengthen its military position along the border.
North Korean Army Marshal Pak Jong Chon inspected fortifications on the border with South Korea on Tuesday, accompanied by Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, KCNA reported.
Kim Yo Jong said new firepower units had “taken up their firing positions” at the border, KCNA reported.
Tensions between North and South Korea have increased since Pyongyang began fortifying its “border” in April 2024. The two countries are separated by the demilitarized zone that was established when the Korean War ended in an armistice in 1953.
Seoul says Pyongyang has sent up to 7,000 workers to the border this year, with about 50 crossings of the military demarcation line, which cuts through the demilitarized zone, on the South Korean side of the border.
North Korea on Wednesday rejected Seoul’s allegations, with Pak calling them an “absurd claim” meant to shift blame, KCNA reported.
The North Korean military knew where the border was “better than any other” and was only doing what it had to do on its own territory, Pak said, urging soldiers to turn the border “into an impregnable fortress.”
South Korea said North Korean mines caused a border explosion last month that seriously injured two of its soldiers, and called on Pyongyang to suspend fortification work.
Gn world
