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Kim Yo-jong, director of the General Affairs Department of North Korea's Workers' Party of Korea. / Yonhap

Kim Yo-jong, director of the General Affairs Department of North Korea's Workers' Party of Korea, protested South Korean military warning shots and loudspeaker warning broadcasts against Military Demarcation Line (MDL) crossings, warning that the North is reviewing measures including resuming its anti-South loudspeaker broadcasts.

Director Kim stated this in a report by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on the 19th, saying, "We do not defend our sovereignty with words."

Kim says 2,870 loudspeaker broadcasts and 201 warning shots from August to October, calling Lee worse than the former President Yoon

Kim said, "A chilling atmosphere is being created along the southern border area due to the reckless bravado of the South Korean military gangster clique." She continued, "South Korean military warmongers are making baseless accusations that our personnel mobilized for southern border barrier construction crossed the border, threatening their safety with warning shots. Loudspeaker warning broadcast provocations carried out from August 1 to October 17 reached 2,870 instances, and warning shots amounted to 201 instances."

She continued, "Such disruptive acts by the enemy have crossed the line, becoming even more blatant following the fabrication of a self-staged landmine explosion drama," adding, "Places where loudspeaker provocations were particularly frequent include guard posts of the South Korean Army's 2nd Corps' 7th and 15th Infantry Divisions, as well as the 3rd Corps' 21st and 22nd Divisions. Warning shot provocations occurred at Military Police Guard Post 278 in the Demilitarized Zone of the 21st Division. In this month alone through the 17th, loudspeaker provocations reached 998 instances and warning shots stood at 91 instances."

Kim explained that between the 15th and 17th of this month in particular, the South committed grave acts of escalating tensions, firing warning shots some 60 times and broadcasting warning messages over 350 times.

Kim criticized, "The anti-Republic confrontational machinations of the Lee Jae-myung administration, which put on a conciliatory display by advocating reconciliation and peace from the start of its term, actually far surpass the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, a vicious conservative regime that openly encouraged anti-communism." She added, "The bravado of the military gangster clique aims to display a resolute response and obstruct our activities to reinforce the southern border. This bravado will certainly expand the crisis and bring about a great disaster upon themselves."

She warned, "In response, our military leadership is reviewing preemptive and suppressive measures, including reinforcing the deployment of tactical strike assets near the southern border area in preparation for any contingency, as well as resuming loudspeaker broadcasts against South Korea. We are also considering other measures deemed necessary and appropriate," adding, "Seoul will regret the useless bravado of its military gangster clique and face unmanageable danger."

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Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kwon Dae-won announces the final investigation findings of the joint on-site inspection task force regarding a landmine explosion in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the 5th. / Yonhap

Experts analyzed North Korea's reaction as an attempt to evade responsibility for potential military clashes along the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), while also serving as proof that the South Korean military's warning broadcasts and warning shots are the most direct and disruptive factors hindering the North.

Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, assessed, "Our military responded strictly to the North Korean military's actions with warning shots and broadcasts in accordance with the Armistice Agreement, and this response serves as proof that, from the North's perspective, it acts as the most direct and bothersome obstacle to completing its border fortification work." He added, "By disguising legitimate surveillance and warnings as provocations and physical threats—even citing specific statistics—they are attempting to build justification that erecting barriers and deploying troops are legitimate exercises of sovereign self-defense."

He continued, "The statement also carries the nature of building a pretext to shift the blame onto the South for any military clashes that could break out along the MDL. If South Korea ceases warning shots, North Korea can permanently establish a new southern border line through unhindered fortification; if the South maintains them, the North will use it as an excuse to deploy additional tactical nuclear delivery systems to the frontline. The overarching purpose of the statement appears to be finishing the fortification without disruption and cementing the border between two permanent hostile states as a fait accompli."

Yang Moo-jin, chair professor at the University of North Korean Studies, stated, "The loudspeakers North Korea refers to are not for psychological warfare against the North, but rather for notifications or warning broadcasts installed at guard posts (GPs), whereas the anti-South loudspeakers the North is considering resuming are psychological warfare tools that emit blaring, deafening noise." He added, "Using expressions such as 'reviewing,' 'considering,' or 'warning' appears to be a calibrated modulation intended to prevent immediate escalation while gradually ratcheting up pressure."

He continued, "Director Kim issuing statements multiple times is an admission in itself that our military is taking a firm response, and they intend to exploit this as justification for advancing nuclear capabilities and solidifying the doctrine of two hostile states." He noted, "Regardless of the intent, tension-escalating actions between the two Koreas in the absence of communication channels could precipitate armed military clashes. The accumulated fatigue among frontline soldiers on both sides resulting from heightened alert duties also multiplies the likelihood of accidental military skirmishes."

Professor Yang also suggested that political circles should exercise discretion in their words and actions in such a hair-trigger situation. He said, "Military responses based on rules of engagement must be left to the armed forces. If politicians reprimand the military and demand only hard-line responses, the two militaries will turn into forces competing in shows of force." He warned, "We must remember that momentarily satisfying countermeasures could result in enduring suffering."

                                                                                                              Lee Han-sol