SEOUL: North Korea has moved new units into "firing positions", the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un said Wednesday, days after Pyongyang warned it was considering deploying additional strike means to its border with South Korea.
Tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang have soared since the South last month blamed an explosion inside the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the two countries on landmines laid by North Korea, an accusation it has rejected.
"Our military leadership underlined the need to make those rogues aware that our new firepower units have taken their firing positions," Kim Yo Jong said, according to state media.
Her statement came a day after Seoul warned of a "firm" response to further North Korean provocations.
She added that Kim Jong Un had "issued an order to fortify the border with an enemy state to be eternally impregnable".
The statement came as the Korea Central News Agency said the armed forces' Marshal Pak Jong Chon had inspected "pivotal positions" on the border, stressing to troops it was "time to organise the firepower strong enough to strike terror into the enemy's heart".
"If the enemy troops make a provocation actually threatening the safety of our service personnel... the border forces of the DPRK must take very proficient, specialised and overwhelming military action," he said, using the acronym for the North's official name.
Seoul's military accused Pyongyang on Tuesday of attempting to shift the blame for escalating military tensions, while confirming it had used both loudspeakers and warning shots as "legitimate defensive measures to prevent North Korean troops from crossing the MDL (Military Demarcation Line) and to drive back troops that have crossed it".
Jin Yong-sung, chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, ordered the military to "respond with firm resolve" should North Korea use Seoul's actions as a pretext for aggressive action, while the defence ministry warned they would be met with "resolute" punishment.
North Korea has separately tested a slew of weapons recently, including a "new-type" precision-guided torpedo system and an intermediate-range hypersonic missile, both of which were said to employ AI technology.