SEOUL, October 20 (AJP) - South Korea will respond sternly to any North Korean provocation along the inter-Korean border, which would violate the armistice agreement, military authorities here said on Tuesday.
The warning came as Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) chief Jin Yong-sung visited a frontline military unit and ordered troops to respond decisively to any provocations by the North, a day after Pyongyang threatened to deploy more weapons along the border and consider resuming propaganda broadcasts.
In a statement carried by the state-run [North] Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the previous day, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's powerful sister Yo-jong, said her country is considering deploying more tactical strike weapons along the border and resuming loudspeaker broadcasts, citing what she described as a “very unstable” border situation.
"A grave situation is prevailing along the southern border due to the reckless behavior of the [South Korean] military gangsters," she said. She also accused Seoul of escalating tensions over what she described as a "fabricated farce," referring to a Sept. 21 explosion that injured three South Korean soldiers near the border. Seoul has blamed the North for planting the mines, calling it a violation of the armistice agreement.
"Seoul will surely regret and face uncontrollably terrible danger," she threatened.
She also claimed that South Korean forces conducted 2,870 loudspeaker broadcasts and fired 201 warning shots from August through last week in an attempt to interfere with the North's work to fortify border areas.
Seoul, however, said they were "legitimate defensive measures" intended to prevent North Korean troops from accidentally crossing the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).
The warning came as Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) chief Jin Yong-sung visited a frontline military unit and ordered troops to respond decisively to any provocations by the North, a day after Pyongyang threatened to deploy more weapons along the border and consider resuming propaganda broadcasts.
In a statement carried by the state-run [North] Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the previous day, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's powerful sister Yo-jong, said her country is considering deploying more tactical strike weapons along the border and resuming loudspeaker broadcasts, citing what she described as a “very unstable” border situation.
"A grave situation is prevailing along the southern border due to the reckless behavior of the [South Korean] military gangsters," she said. She also accused Seoul of escalating tensions over what she described as a "fabricated farce," referring to a Sept. 21 explosion that injured three South Korean soldiers near the border. Seoul has blamed the North for planting the mines, calling it a violation of the armistice agreement.
"Seoul will surely regret and face uncontrollably terrible danger," she threatened.
She also claimed that South Korean forces conducted 2,870 loudspeaker broadcasts and fired 201 warning shots from August through last week in an attempt to interfere with the North's work to fortify border areas.
Seoul, however, said they were "legitimate defensive measures" intended to prevent North Korean troops from accidentally crossing the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).
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