Tension on the Korean Peninsula
Dissatisfied with the dissemination of anti-DPRK flyers by the North Korean defectors, North Korea ordered the bombing of the North Korea-Korea Liaison Office building in the Kaicheng Industrial Park on June 16. On the same day, the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army also announced that it would re-deploy troops in areas where the DPRK and the ROK have been “disarmed” and distribute leaflets to the ROK. The Blue House of the Presidential Palace of South Korea issued a statement that evening, expressing its deep regret and strongly warning that if the DPRK continues to take measures to worsen the situation, the ROK will respond strongly.
The situation on the peninsula, which has been relatively relaxed for the past two years, has once again heated up and tightened.
"Working against Korea" converted to "Working against the enemy"
At 5 p.m. local time on the 16th local time, the North Korean Central News Agency, North Korean Central Radio, and North Korean Central Television also reported the North Korean bombing of the North Korea-South Korea Liaison Office building. According to the report, in order to comply with popular sentiment, the DPRK’s related departments let the “North Korean defectors” and their “conspirators” pay the “criminal price”. After cutting off all communication lines between the DPRK and the ROK, the DPRK-ROK liaison office building was completely destroyed. Countermeasures.
This move is only 20 months after the establishment of this liaison mechanism between Korea and Korea in September 2018. It is also the eighth time since the establishment of the first telephone liaison mechanism in 1971 by the DPRK and South Korea.
According to Korean media reports, the Korea-Korea Liaison Office Building is located in the first industrial park of the Kaesong International Free Economic Zone. It was completed in December 2017 and covers an area of 4498.57 square meters; the land is owned by the Korean side and the construction cost is borne by the Korean government. The building has four floors, the first floor is for consultation and education; the second floor is the Korean office; the third floor is for talks; the fourth floor is the Korean office. In April 2018, North Korea’s top leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Wen Zaiyin held their first meeting at the “House of Peace” on the Korean side of Panmunjom, and signed the Declaration of Panmunjom for Peaceful Prosperity and Reunification of the Peninsula. Declaration of Panmunjom). In order to implement this declaration, on September 14, the same year, the Korea-Korea Liaison Office was officially opened in Kaesong, North Korea. This is the first liaison office in the history of North Korea and South Korea. After the establishment of the office, North Korea and South Korea each have more than 20 staff members, operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a day, and there is a meeting of directors of the two sides once a week, until January this year, the office ceased operation due to the new coronary pneumonia epidemic.
The North Korea-South Korea Liaison Office building was bombed on the 16th and was closely related to the distribution of anti-DPRK leaflets on May 31st by the "North Korean defectors" group "Free North Korean Movement". On the same day, members of this group distributed 500,000 flyers, 50 manuals, 2,000 US$1 banknotes, and 1,000 memory cards to North Korea with large balloons. Anti-DPRK remarks were written on the flyers. This move caused the North Korean side to be angry, and North Korea regarded it as "touching the highest dignity."
On 5 June, a spokesman of the United Front Department published in the Labor News of the Korean Workers’ Party said that the flyer incident occurred a total of 10 times in 2019 and 3 times this year. "The relationship between the two nations has excited and improved the entire nation. And good atmosphere cooling again." On the same day, Jin Youzheng, the first deputy minister of the Labor Party, said that the "North Korean defectors" group maliciously denigrated the DPRK. She also proposed specific methods for partitioning the space in contact with South Korea, saying that North Korea may be abandoning King Kong Mountain tourist facilities. Consider completely demolishing the Kaesong Industrial Park, or cutting off the lines of communication between the DPRK and the ROK, or abolishing the DPRK-ROK military agreement. On June 9, North Korea announced that it would completely cut off and abolish all DPRK-ROK communication lines, and at the same time convert "work against South Korea" into "work against the enemy."
On June 17, the Korean Central News Agency commented that the responsibility for violating the "Panmendian Declaration", "Pyongyang Declaration" and "North-South Agreement" is in South Korea, "South (South Korea) remembers that the explosion of the Kaicheng Industrial Park will become a notice of North The prelude to the full bankruptcy of South Africa relations."
Wen Zaiyin called on North Korea not to close the window of dialogue
In response to this series of new events, the Blue House, the Ministry of Unification, and the Ministry of National Defense all responded one after another.
After the DPRK bombed the DPRK-ROK Liaison Office building, Qingwatai held an emergency national security assurance meeting. After the meeting, Qingwatai stated in the name of the Secretary-General of the National Security Council Jin Yougen that he expressed strong regret for North Korea’s unilateral blasting of the Korea-DPRK Liaison Office building. “All responsibilities arising from this will be borne by the DPRK.” Jin Yougen also warned, "If (North Korea) continues to take measures that will worsen the situation, we will be tough".
About 4 hours after the "liaison office" was blasted, the South Korean Ministry of Defense issued a strong warning to North Korea that if North Korea launched a military provocation, the South Korean army would respond hard; the South Korean army is closely monitoring the movement of the North Korean army 24 hours a day, keeping the military preparedness situation at all times. , Minister of National Defense Zheng Jingdou and Chairman of the Joint Staff Headquarters Park Hanji came to the joint command and control room to sit in command. On the 17th, the South Korean Ministry of Defense once again warned that "the DPRK will pay a price if it is put into military action."
South Korea's Ministry of Unification revealed on the 16th that at about 15:40, about 51 minutes after the building blast occurred, the South Korean side had stopped supplying electricity to the liaison office building. A spokesman for the Ministry of Unification also said that the "departing from the North" group's actions such as the release of balloons put the lives of border residents in danger. The South Korean government is seeking a fundamental solution and may legislate to prevent such actions.
In fact, before the "liaison office" was bombed, South Korea once tried to cool the tension. According to a report by the Korean Central News Agency on the 17th, the South Korean side proposed to the Korean side on the 15th that President Wen Zaiyin would send Zheng Yirong, director of the National Security Office of Qingwatai, and Xu Xun, president of the National Intelligence Agency, as special envoys to visit the DPRK and pay a visit to the Chairman of the Korean State Council Kim Jong Un , But the DPRK rejected this proposal. In March 2018, Zheng Yirong and Xu Xun once visited Pyongyang as President Wen Zaiyin's special envoy, and handed over Wen Zaiyin's letter to Kim Jong-un, laying the foundation for the North-South summit in April of the same year.
On June 15th, the day before, South Korean President Wen Zaiyin also made a speech on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the signing of the "North-South Joint Declaration", saying that cooperative development is a clear direction for South Korea-DPRK relations and cannot be stopped. He called on North Korea not to close the window of dialogue . Wen Zaiyin said: "People Kim Jong-un and I have made a promise of peace on the peninsula in front of 80 million ethnic compatriots that cannot be withdrawn." The most important thing at present is the trust between the ROK and the DPRK. Mutual trust should be accumulated through dialogue. Era of confrontation."
Expert analysis: Breaking the deadlock with the US may be the main demand of the DPRK
The North Korea’s sudden bombing of the North Korea-South Korea Liaison Office building, which symbolizes the new achievements of the North-South Dialogue, has aroused strong attention from all parties.
A US State Department spokesperson said in a statement on the 16th: "The United States fully supports South Korea's efforts for North Korea-South Korea relations and urges North Korea not to take further counterproductive actions." An American government official also disclosed to Reuters After the "Liaison Office" was blown up, the United States and Wen Zaiyin's government maintained "close coordination".
South Korea's "Central Daily" analyzed on the 17th that North Korea's "blasting demonstration" is to hold South Korea accountable for the breakdown of the North Korea-US summit in 2019. The article said that two years have passed since the Singapore-DPRK-US summit talks and Pyongyang still found nothing. Without the United States taking the lead in taking action, South Korea can only stand still. Therefore, North Korea's "beating" of South Korea this time may be to arouse the attention of the United States and urge it to respond, breaking the state of stagnation in North Korea-US negotiations. Che Doo-hyun, chief research member of the Asan Policy Research Institute in South Korea, also believes that North Korea’s move is to hope that South Korea "either get rid of the sanctions front or urge the United States to return to the negotiating table", "otherwise North Korea will take further action."
Raymond Pardo, lecturer in international relations at King’s College, University of London, analyzed that North Korea’s increased tension with South Korea at this time is reasonable, at least until the results of the US presidential election in November this year; after that time Only then can we see the relationship between Washington and Pyongyang next year.
Pei Mingfu, a senior reporter and columnist from South Korea’s Central Daily News, believes that North Korea may continue to increase tension on the peninsula until the United States responds. Pei Mingfu even worried that "provocative and tit-for-tat targeted attacks may evolve into real wars."
Liaoning Provincial Academy of Social Sciences researcher Lu Chao, an expert on China’s Korean peninsula, also believes that the DPRK is not determined to create tensions, but hopes to use pressure to wake up the Wen Jay-in government. The DPRK will strengthen its relations with the DPRK and South Korea. Dominance, not blindly controlled by the United States; then hope to use South Korea as a "breakthrough" to gain more room for negotiation with the United States.
Regarding the renewed tensions on the peninsula, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on the 16th that the DPRK and South Korea are the same ethnic group and are directly involved in peninsular affairs. As a neighbor and friend, China has always supported North Korea and South Korea to properly resolve differences, reconcile and cooperate, and is committed to peace and stability on the peninsula.
Newspaper Beijing, June 17th
China Youth Daily · China Youth Daily reporter Chen Xiaoru Source: China Youth Daily