Kim Yo-jong said Monday that Pyongyang is considering new military steps against South Korea, including resuming loudspeaker broadcasts and deploying additional tactical strike assets near the inter-Korean border.
Kim Yo-jong is the director of the General Affairs Department of the Workers' Party of Korea and the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"Our military leadership is considering increasing the deployment of tactical strike means near the entire southern border and resuming loudspeaker broadcasts against South Korea as preemptive and suppressive measures in preparation for any contingency," Kim said in a statement carried by North Korean state media.
Kim accused South Korean troops of repeatedly issuing warning broadcasts and firing warning shots at North Korean personnel working near the border since August.
She claimed the South Korean military had conducted 2,870 warning broadcasts and fired warning shots on 201 occasions between Aug. 1 and Oct. 17.
South Korea's Defense Ministry said the military has continued to issue warning broadcasts when necessary, but stressed that they are not made through the large-scale anti-North Korea loudspeaker systems whose operation was suspended in June.
Instead, the warnings are delivered through smaller speakers installed at South Korean guard posts and used for military operations toward North Korea, according to the ministry.
"We are continuing necessary warning broadcasts, but we cannot confirm specific operational details," a ministry official said.
The broadcasts have been used as North Korean troops have repeatedly approached or crossed the Military Demarcation Line in recent months. Under South Korea's rules of engagement, troops issue warning broadcasts when North Korean personnel approach the MDL and fire warning shots if they cross it.
According to data from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korean troops were assessed to have crossed the MDL around 50 times in August and September, including about 20 times in August and 30 times in September. The crossings have been concentrated largely along the eastern front, where North Korea has continued border fortification work.
Kim said such South Korean actions had intensified following what she called Seoul's "fabricated mine explosion incident," apparently referring to two mine explosions on Sept. 21 that injured three South Korean military personnel inside the Demilitarized Zone.
South Korea suspended its anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts along the border on June 11 under President Lee Jae Myung's order as part of efforts to ease military tensions. North Korea later stopped its own loudspeaker broadcasts toward the South.
"Seoul will surely regret the useless bravado of its military thugs and face risks that will be difficult to handle," Kim said.
"We clearly emphasize once again that we do not defend our sovereignty with words."
flylikekite@heraldcorp.com