The DPRK leadership condemned the joint exercises of the South Korean and American fleets, conducted in close proximity to the borders of North Korea. This is stated in a statement to the press by the representative of the Ministry of People’s Armed Forces of the DPRK, published by the North Korean agency CTAC.

The statement emphasizes that the maneuvers were carried out in a hot spot near the west coast of the DPRK. It was this area that in previous years has more than once become an arena for military clashes between the North and the South, Pyongyang recalled.

“More serious is the fact that South Korean military circles conducted such military exercises, calling us“ the enemy, ”the statement emphasizes. At the same time, Pyongyang noted that the military of South Korea did not hide the fact that the purpose of the maneuvers was to improve the ability to respond to the sudden "provocation" of the North.

According to the North Korean side, such a move by Seoul is a “serious provocation” that needs to be answered.

In addition, according to Pyongyang, these events cast the situation back to the state of high tension in which inter-Korean relations were prior to the 2018 summit, the statement says.

Seoul Pyongyang describes the actions as “a crazy military provocative act of the South Korean military circles” against the military agreement concluded between the two Koreas in 2018.

However, Seoul does not agree with such estimates.

“Joint exercises were defensive in nature and were conducted in the waters west of the city of Kunsan. They were carried out in accordance with the agreement of September 19, ”said the representative of the Ministry of Defense of South Korea, also referring to the inter-Korean agreements reached in 2018.

As reported by the South Korean agency Ronhap, May 6, South Korea held military exercises in the Yellow Sea with the 2nd fleet of the US Navy. Aviation was also involved in the maneuvers.

Long-standing contradictions

Recall that an agreement designed to prevent unintended clashes between South Korean and DPRK forces at sea was reached by the parties in September 2018 during the two-day visit of South Korean President Moon Jae In to the DPRK. The parties signed an agreement to create a buffer zone to prevent collisions and to suspend naval exercises and firing in the area. 

  • South Korean President Moon Jae In and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
  • © Korea Summit Press Pool / Pool via Reuters

The results of negotiations between Moon Jae In and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were recorded in the Pyongyang Declaration. The leaders agreed to stop the incidents in the demilitarized zone and remove all security posts within 1 km of each other. In the future, the DPRK and South Korea planned to completely eliminate all posts within the DMZ.

At sea, the parties decided to create a buffer “zone of peace”. According to the agreements, only ships that do not carry weapons on board can enter it, all activity in this area should be exclusively peaceful.

As Konstantin Asmolov, a researcher at the Center for Korean Studies at the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted in an interview with RT, the accusations made to Pyongyang against Seoul have every reason.

“Indeed, the declaration clearly states the need to refrain from hostile actions. However, joint exercises against the DPRK relate specifically to such actions. So the indignation of the DPRK authorities is justified. In general, if you look at who and how often conducts exercises on the peninsula, it becomes clear that talking about aggressive North Korea and an absolutely peaceful South is simply meaningless, ”the expert explained.

A slightly different point of view is shared by the leading specialist of the Department of International Politics and Foreign Regional Studies of the RANEPA Roman Fainshmidt.

“Whether South Korea violated the terms of the declaration by its maneuvers, it will become clear in two or three days when more facts and information on the coordination of maneuvers will appear. The contradictions between the two Koreas are long-term, ”the expert explained in a comment to RT.

Washington on the line

It is worth noting that the warming in inter-Korean relations was accompanied by the simultaneous establishment of contacts between Pyongyang and Washington. The political thaw was preceded by a serious aggravation in relations between the authorities of North Korea and the USA against the background of nuclear missile tests conducted by the North Korean side. The tension has reached such limits that in April 2017, the head of the White House, Donald Trump, even ordered to send the U.S. Navy carrier group to the shores of the Korean Peninsula.

  • South and North Korean soldiers in the demilitarized zone
  • Reuters
  • © Kim Hong-Ji

On the brink of a serious conflict, the parties balanced throughout 2017, which, however, did not stop Pyongyang from finalizing the program to create its own nuclear arsenal - on January 1, 2018, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced the creation of a full-fledged nuclear force in the country. Donald Trump emotionally reacted to the statement of the North Korean leader, saying that the American "nuclear button" is much more powerful than that of the DPRK.

However, tensions between Pyongyang and Washington soon subsided. This was facilitated by the warming that was emerging between the DPRK and South Korea, to which Moon Jae In, the elected president of the Republic of Korea in 2017, made significant efforts.

So, the politician invited Pyongyang to withdraw the national teams of the two countries at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in South Korean Pyeongchang with the same flag.

The DPRK accepted this proposal; contacts between countries on the sports line became a prologue to a broad political dialogue. 

Then the dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington began to line up. In June 2018, the first summit of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un was held in Singapore. Following the talks, a joint declaration was signed, according to which the leadership of the DPRK reaffirmed its commitment to the idea of ​​nuclear disarmament.

Then Pyongyang promised to make efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, and Washington, for its part, promised to provide security guarantees to the DPRK.

However, despite the fact that Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un subsequently held two more meetings, countries failed to advance in the implementation of the agreements reached. The United States refuses to phase out the economic sanctions against North Korea as the country's nuclear disarmament, and Pyongyang, in turn, is not ready for simultaneous disarmament without any guarantees from Washington. 

Neither peace nor war

However, so far the leaders of the DPRK and the United States are not returning to the hostile rhetoric of 2017, while retaining, at least in words, a commitment to the agreements reached. In inter-Korean relations, until recently, a peaceful tone also remained. It was violated only by the incident that occurred on May 3 on the border of the DPRK and South Korea. As the Ronhap news agency reported then with reference to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Republic of Korea, several shots were fired in the direction of the South Korean observation post in the central part of the demarcation line. In turn, the South Korean military also fired two shots in the direction of the DPRK.

However, according to Roman Feinschmidt, neither the incident with the shooting at the border, nor the naval exercises of South Korea will lead to a new round of tension on the peninsula.

Although inter-Korean relations remain difficult, after Moon Jae came to power in the Republic of Korea, Ina Seoul and Pyongyang still maintain stable contacts and should not expect a worsening of the situation, the expert believes.

“Given that the leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong-un, has been absent from public for a long time, now the current reaction of the North Korean side to the maneuvers of the southerners is more likely to demonstrate to the whole world that the country is ready to actively defend its interests, and stability remains within the state,” the expert explained.

A similar point of view is shared by Konstantin Asmolov.

“Because of these incidents, Korea’s relationship will not deteriorate and will not roll back to the beginning of 2017. However, if you understand what has been done for the world, in addition to easing the tension on the border, it becomes clear that in most areas it was not possible to implement a joint declaration between the two Koreas. And this situation has developed precisely because of Seoul’s reluctance to take real steps, ”the expert summed up.