The head of the military operations department of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea Chung Dong Jin said that the current actions of the DPRK have nullified the efforts of the past 20 years in the field of inter-Korean relations, and threatened with retaliation in case of aggravation.
“These measures will nullify the efforts to normalize relations and maintain peace on the peninsula, carried out by the two Koreas over the past 20 years. If these measures are implemented, the North will be paid, ”the Ronhap agency quoted Chung Don Jin as saying.
Thus, the South Korean commander commented on the recent actions of the DPRK, which blew up the inter-Korean communications office in Kesong, and plans to return the army of the North to Keson itself and the tourist zone of Kymgansan.
At the same time, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea stated that it continues to act on the basis of compliance with military agreements with the DPRK.
The same position was voiced in the administration of the President of South Korea, noting that the country's government does not regard the current aggravation as a reason for refusing agreements with its northern neighbor. They are understood as the military agreement of September 19, 2018 and the Pan-Mujom declaration of April 27, 2018.
The South Korean authorities emphasized that they would keep the ban on sending campaign materials to the DPRK, which was one of the reasons for the current escalation. The ban will continue, even despite Pyongyang's promise to distribute its materials in the south.
As the leading specialist of the Department of International Politics and Foreign Regional Studies of the RANEPA, Roman Fainshmidt, explained in an interview with RT, this situation is caused by the fact that South Korea did not fulfill the conditions of the joint declaration of 2018, which indicated, for example, a ban on launching leaflets from the territory of South Korea to the territory of the DPRK .
“The South Korean side, taking into account the possibility of sending troops into the demilitarized zone from the side of North Korea, is forced to give some kind of answer. But in any case, the South Korean authorities will strive to ensure that the situation on the peninsula remains controlled, they are not interested in destabilization since Moon Jae In supports the agenda that the DPRK and South Korea are a single people, ”the expert explained.
In addition, the absence of any action to lift sanctions on the part of the Republic of Korea and the United States led to a new tension between the countries, said Evgeny Kim, a researcher at the Center for Korean Studies at the Institute for Far East Studies. He recalled that President Moon Jae-in stated that if the DPRK took certain steps to denuclearize, then sanctions would be lifted.
“Kim Jong-un believed him, took steps in this direction. However, until now, sanctions have not been lifted, but, on the contrary, strengthened, there are still no shifts to the signing of the peace treaty by the South Korea, the United States, there are no hints that it is time to prepare a peace treaty, ”the expert noted.
Communication gap
The aggravation of relations between North and South Korea has been going on for more than a week. On June 9, the DPRK cut off all communication channels with South Korea. Pyongyang, through the State Central Telegraph Agency of Korea (CTAC), said the reason was another rally of non-governmental organizations in South Korea that sent balloons with campaign leaflets to the North.
Evgeny Kim recalled that in 2018, Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in signed documents, which also prohibited the mutual descent of balloons with leaflets and radio propaganda.
- North Korean soldiers
- Reuters
- © Danish Siddiqui
“However, this year, as in the past, organizations from South Korea resumed the transfer of leaflets. DPRK authorities asked for action. But South Korea does not take real steps to eliminate the hostile campaign against the DPRK, so Kim Jong-un has taken such decisive actions as the explosion of the inter-Korean office in Queson, ”the political scientist noted.
CTAC reported that the decision to break the communications was made with the participation of the first deputy head of the Central Committee of the Labor Party of Korea, Kim Yong-jung (sister of the head of the DPRK, Kim Jong-un).
On June 16, the DPRK, which controls the Kaesong area, blew up the inter-Korean communications office building, which was opened during detente in 2018. Kim Yo Jeong commented on this event, calling the building “a useless joint office for communication between the North and the South,” and the picture of its destruction “miserable.”
Soon after, the North Korean General Staff announced that it would bring troops into the zone.
“In the tourist zone of Kymgansan and the industrial zone of Keson, which are subject to the sovereignty of our republic, regiment level units and necessary firing units will be deployed to fulfill their tasks of protecting them,” the representative of the General Staff of the Central Command and Control Center said.
The Keson zone is located less than 50 km from Seoul and is considered one of the main directions of the DPRK army’s movement in the event of an active armed conflict between the two countries. Military publications have repeatedly noted that Seoul is within reach of the North Korean armed forces and missile artillery.
Discharge and escalation
Recall that the current crisis was preceded by a period of detente in relations between North and South Korea, which arose against the backdrop of negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
From 2018 to 2019, US and DPRK representatives held negotiations at various levels, including personal meetings between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, trying to come to an agreement. At this time, diplomatic communication was also established between Pyongyang and Seoul, and the mentioned liaison office was created.
- South Korean Army
- Reuters
- © Jo Yong-Hak
However, by the end of 2019, negotiations between the U.S. and DPRK had reached an impasse due to Washington’s reluctance to ease the sanctions regime against Pyongyang, and the period of detente was over.
Commenting on the new escalation of relations, Kim Yo-jeon said that responsibility for what is happening lies with South Korea and the United States.
“The South Korean leadership is responsible for the rollback in relations between the North and the South. They have slipped to a state where the US is playing with them, ”emphasized Kim Yo Jung.
She added that the South Korean side in the current situation can only “regret and mourn” what happened.
Roman Fainshmitd noted that it was Washington’s unwillingness to meet Pyongyang during the negotiations in 2018 and 2019 that ultimately led to the current situation.
“The DPRK is now driven by dissatisfaction with South Korea’s meetings with the United States and the fact that, despite the willingness to cooperate in 2018, Seoul was unable to ensure the removal of sanctions from the Northerners, which hit the country pretty hard,” the expert explained.
According to the political scientist, Pyongyang is trying to induce Seoul and Washington to once again sit at the negotiating table.
“The DPRK authorities are now striving by their aggressive actions to lead the parties to negotiations, to ensure that they are given air in the economic sphere. They want the sanctions to be weakened or lifted, economic cooperation, industrial cooperation between North and South Korea in the Kaesong zone resumed, ”said Roman Fainshmidt.
The expert added that now Seoul must make steps towards detente and fulfill promises to weaken the sanctions regime.
It should be borne in mind that the complete denuclearization of the DPRK is now impossible, since Pyongyang is not ready to completely abandon nuclear weapons that guarantee the existence of this state, Feinschmidt believes.
“North Korea is interested in economic modernization and easing sanctions, given this, the South Korean authorities should build appropriate tactics,” the political scientist said.
Eugene Kim agrees with this assessment of the situation.
“In order to defuse the current situation, South Korea and its allies must move from words to deeds, fulfill the promises made to the DPRK,” the expert concluded.