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The Korean Central News Agency reported on the 4th that an intermediate-range strategic missile launch drill was conducted from North Korea's eastern region into the East Sea of Korea in the early hours of the 3rd, overseen by State Affairs Commission President Kim Jong-un. / Yonhap

North Korea is escalating pressure on South Korea through retaliatory threats and ballistic missile launches while rejecting the South Korean military's findings on a landmine explosion incident in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Concerns over further armed provocations are growing as claims have also emerged that the North Korean military crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and erected structures along the eastern front, in addition to the western front where the incident took place.

According to political circles on the 5th, North Korea criticized the South Korean military's investigation results, which determined that the DMZ landmine explosion was caused by mines laid by the North, and subsequently displayed military threats by publicizing missile launch drills.

Kim Yo-jong, director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, claimed in a statement that the landmine blast was a "staged farce" fabricated by the South. She also condemned President Lee Jae-myung's Armed Forces Day address, in which he pledged to continue measures aimed at easing inter-Korean military tensions, calling it the "climax of a farce."

North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the East Sea on the morning of the 3rd. This marks its 15th ballistic missile launch this year and comes just 13 days after the launch on the 20th of last month.

Kim stated that an intermediate-range strategic missile launch drill was carried out over the East Sea on the day of the launch, overseen by State Affairs Commission President Kim Jong-un. It is unusual for North Korea to publicize such an event on the day of the launch. The move is viewed as an effort to intensify pressure by displaying military capabilities amid escalating inter-Korean tensions over the landmine incident.

Amid these developments, claims have been raised that the North Korean military's incursions across the MDL are not confined to the western front. Rep. Yoo Yong-won of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, stated during a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Hall that day, "The issue of incursions south of the MDL is not limited to the 25th Division, but is occurring across multiple forward areas. In particular, within the 21st Division on the eastern front, structures including barbed-wire fences installed by North Korean troops have been placed south of the MDL."

The 21st Division is also the unit against which Kim warned of military retaliation, citing an "enhancement of tactical counterstrike means." Rep. Yoo raised the possibility that minefields and tactical roads, in addition to North Korean barbed-wire fences, may have been constructed south of the MDL. He emphasized, "As additional North Korean provocations are anticipated, more principled and resolute responses and measures are required."

                                                                                                           Kim Dong-wook