The key facts
- North Korea will raise its level of combat readiness along the entire southern border, KCNA reported citing Kim Yo Jong.
- Anti-South Korean loudspeakers will be ready for deployment at the border within several days.
- The warning is linked to tensions after a landmine explosion in the DMZ on September 21; three South Korean soldiers were wounded, two seriously.
Pyongyang Announces Countermeasures at the Border
North Korea warned South Korea of 'the most dreadful and burdensome situation' if Seoul continues, in Pyongyang's wording, interference, and announced new countermeasures along the heavily militarized border. Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, stated that the country will raise its level of combat readiness along the entire southern border, the state agency KCNA reported.
Loudspeakers and Warning of Consequences
According to Kim Yo Jong, anti-South Korean loudspeakers will be ready for deployment along the border within several days, signaling a further escalation of tensions between the neighbors. She warned that Seoul's continued interference will entail grave consequences, but the specific actions that prompted this warning remained unclear.
Context: Landmine Explosion in the DMZ
The warning came amid tensions connected with the explosion of a landmine in the Demilitarized Zone on September 21, which wounded three South Korean soldiers, two of them seriously. Seoul accused Pyongyang of deliberately planting the mines and demanded an apology; North Korea rejected the accusations as 'shifting blame' and stated that the South is trying to smear its international image. Relations between the two Korean states, which formally remain in a state of war since the Korean War of 1950–1953 ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, have deteriorated again.
