Warmongers Of ROK Threatening Our Safety: North Korea Warns South Korea

North Korea is considering deploying additional tactical weapons along its border with South Korea and resuming loudspeaker broadcasts targeting Seoul, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said on Monday, October 19, as tensions escalated over military activities along the heavily fortified frontier.

Kim accused South Korean troops of endangering North Korean soldiers by firing warning shots at personnel involved in Pyongyang’s border fortification work. In a statement carried by state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), she described the situation along the southern border as “very unstable” and warned that Seoul’s actions could trigger a military response.

Kim said North Korea’s military leadership was examining the deployment of more tactical strike weapons as a pre-emptive measure and considering the resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts against South Korea.

“To cope with the prevailing situation, our military leadership is examining the issues of deploying more tactical strike means along the southern border as a pre-emptive and suppressive measure to deal with contingency,” she said.

The latest warning comes amid heightened tensions over border fortification work that North Korea began in April 2024, involving the installation of mines, fences and other barriers. South Korea’s military said Pyongyang had deployed as many as 7,000 workers this year for the construction activities and reported around 50 incidents involving North Korean personnel crossing the frontier.

South Korea has responded by maintaining heightened military vigilance, firing warning shots and conducting loudspeaker broadcasts near the border, according to Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies.

Kim claimed South Korea issued 2,870 loudspeaker warnings and fired 201 warning shots between August 1 and October 17. Seoul has not publicly released comparable figures, and its defence ministry was not immediately available for comment on her allegations.

The two Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separates the two sides.

Last month, landmines reportedly caused an explosion that seriously injured two North Korean soldiers, according to South Korea’s military, which urged Pyongyang to halt its border construction activities.

North Korea’s consideration of additional weapons and renewed propaganda broadcasts signals the risk of further military escalation along one of the world’s most heavily militarised borders.