North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has suspended military action plans against South Korea, North Korean media reported on Wednesday, unexpected news after days of mounting tensions on the peninsula.
The North Korean regime has stepped up verbal attacks on Seoul in recent weeks, notably criticizing the fact that North Korean dissidents based in the South are sending propaganda leaflets to the North using wind-blown balloons.
The North had yet taken action
After breaking official communication channels, North Korea last week destroyed the liaison office opened in September 2018 just north of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which symbolized the relaxation that appeared on the peninsula that year. His army has at the same time said that it will take multiple actions against the South. These included the occupation of sites of inter-Korean cooperation now in neutral, the resettlement of guard posts in the DMZ or the intensification of military maneuvers.
North Korea threatens to break military agreement with the South https://t.co/wvkA6RF2SD
- 20 Minutes (@ 20Minutes) June 4, 2020But the North Korean official agency KCNA reported on Wednesday that Kim Jong-un chaired a meeting of the Central Military Commission (CMC) the day before which "suspended military action plans against the South". The North also began to dismantle loudspeakers installed two days ago in border regions on Wednesday in order to spread propaganda against the South, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. In addition, the relays of the propaganda organs of Pyongyang deleted articles which, on the Internet, criticized South Korea, according to the South Korean Ministry of Unification.
This apparent desire for conciliation on the part of Pyongyang is unusual and intrigues observers. Several experts have recently suspected that the North was using the pretext of sending leaflets to create a crisis from scratch to wrest concessions, at a time when international negotiations on nuclear power have stalled. Seoul had reacted strongly to the demolition of the liaison office, as well as to the diatribes launched by Kim Jong-un's sister and adviser, Kim Yo Jong, who had recently been the face of the regime.
A political calculation on the part of Kim Jong-un?
"Letting someone else speak on behalf of the regime gives Kim Jong Un the opportunity to then adjust the course," said Leif-Eric Easley, professor at Ewha University in Seoul. He may do so in the hope of external concessions or because his army needs more time to implement his next provocation. "
One thing is certain, according to the academic, North Korea, which possesses the atomic weapon, "has not finished with the threats against South Korea or with the strengthening of its alleged deterrence. "
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North Korea: Pyongyang destroyed South Liaison Office
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North Korea: Pyongyang cuts communication channels with "enemy" from the south
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