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Park Chan-kyong

The two Koreas appear to be coming closer to an armed clash along their poorly marked military dividing line after a series of increasingly hostile warnings from the North, observers say.
Back-to-back statements on Wednesday and Thursday by Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, appear aimed at building a case for blaming Seoul for any future exchange of fire, they say.
“The two sides appear to be edging closer to accidental armed clashes,” said Oh Gyeong-seob, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
“The South Korean military has no other alternative but to respond with warning shots as North Korean troops keep intruding across the military demarcation line, while the North vows to retaliate strongly.”
Seoul says North Korean troops, accelerating efforts to fortify the border ahead of winter, have been encroaching south of the line in some areas.

Under existing rules of engagement, South Korean troops first issue loudspeaker warnings when North Korean soldiers appear to be crossing the military line. If they step across, South Korean forces fire warning shots to compel them to return to the North.
“Once the North sets up its new walls even a few metres south of the MDL, there would be no means to roll it back. That’s why the South has to respond sternly,” Oh said.
In a statement on Wednesday, Kim warned that the North Korean military would “mercilessly” retaliate if South Korean troops threatened the safety of its personnel.
“If the enemy’s provocative warning shots go beyond warnings and threaten the actual security of our territory and the safety of our servicemen, our border troops will mercilessly deal with the armed thugs who have lost their reason,” Kim was quoted as saying by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency.


Kim visited several frontline fortification sites early on Tuesday. Hours after the visit, she said the border had been “clearly blocked off and is becoming increasingly fortified”.
She said her brother had stressed that the border should become a permanent divider and that sharing a border with what he termed the world’s “most despicable and vile enemy” was a “terrible tragedy”.
Kim, who claimed that the South Korean military had issued 2,870 warning broadcasts and fired 201 warning shots between August 1 and October 17, accused South Korean troops of broadcasting warnings and firing warning shots at North Korean soldiers at “at least two places” on Tuesday.
On Thursday, she issued another warning. “Should a ‘mistake’ – whether intentional or unintentional – occur, even for a fleeting moment, driven by a pathological bravado, those responsible must be prepared for the consequences,” she said. “Everything will be shattered, broken, and brought to ruin,”
Loudspeaker politics
Kim’s statements also revealed a shift in the timing of the North’s planned loudspeaker operations – which she has called “the most justifiable measure and an appropriate response”.
On Wednesday, she said Pyongyang would activate broadcasts along the entire border by the end of the month. But on Thursday, she appeared to soften the immediate threat, saying the loudspeakers intended would be placed in a state of operational readiness within the coming days.
North Korea’s propaganda loudspeakers fell silent after Seoul stopped its own broadcasts in 2024.
A defining feature of Kim’s recent statements was her repeated accusations that Seoul was engaging in hostile and provocative acts, said Yang Moo-jin, a distinguished professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

“This repetition may amount to an indirect admission that South Korean warning broadcasts and warning shots are unsettling North Korean troops and making it difficult for them to carry out border fortification work smoothly,” Yang said.
This interpretation is supported by her recent inspection of the frontline construction sites, accompanied by Marshal Pak Jong-chon, one of North Korea’s highest-ranking military officials, according to Yang.
During the visit, the two sought to reassure troops by arguing that completing the fortifications would eliminate the risk of military clashes along the frontier.
“Our military is accomplishing a great undertaking despite the enemy’s persistent threats,” Kim said. “A peaceful and great history will soon begin.”
The fact that the inspection was not reported in the Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Workers’ Party newspaper aimed at domestic audiences, might reflect an effort to prevent signs of anxiety among troops and their families from spreading, Yang said.

Kim’s remarks that completing the fortifications would reduce the risk of inter-Korean military clashes further reinforced this interpretation, he added.
“Pyongyang’s underlying message appears to be an indirect appeal for restraint from Seoul: if South Korea refrains from taking actions that North Korea regards as provocative, Pyongyang would have less need to maintain heightened response postures or prepare to reactivate its loudspeakers.”
He called on the two Koreas to “sit down together and seek a practical solution through dialogue”.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said the North Korean leader’s decision to send both his sister and his top military official to the fortification sites showed his determination to turn inter-Korean relations into a permanently hostile relationship.
The move was also intended to reinforce the message that his orders must be carried out without fail and boost morale among the troops, Lim said.
“Because Kim Jong-un personally issued the order, there appears to be no room to revise or adjust it, despite shortages of resources at the construction sites, difficult conditions or the risk of accidental clashes between the two Koreas,” he said.
“If the warning shots continue, there is a chance that the North would use this as a pretext for reinforcing the front lines with additional weapons capable of using tactical nuclear weapons.”
On Thursday, South ⁠Korea’s defence ministry urged the North to discuss measures to ease tension at the ⁠border and prevent ‌any accidental military clash.


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North Korea

Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and leading North Korean military official Pak Jong-chon (centre) inspect fortification work on the border with South Korea on Tuesday. Photo: KCNA / dpa

South Korean Marines taking part in a comprehensive island defence exercise on Baengnyeong near the maritime border with North Korea on Wednesday. Photo: South Korean Defence Ministry / AFP

North Korean loudspeakers for broadcasts directed at South Korea stand along the Imjin River, as viewed from Paju, South Korea, on Tuesday. Photo: Yonhap / Reuters

Kim Yo-jong conducts an on-site inspection of the construction sites for the fortification of North Korea’s southern border. Photo: KCNA / Reuters

North Korea’s dual undersea missile launches test regional defence

An underwater-launched missile test in North Korea’s eastern waters on Wednesday. Photo: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

A North Korean submarine sails in the East Sea, as the North tests two types of submarine-launched strategic cruise missiles, on Wednesday. Photo: Yonhap/dpa

North Korea leader Kim Jong-un (second from left) looks at the new nuclear attack submarine Hero Kim Kun Ok at an unspecified place in North Korea in September 2023. Photo: KCNA/Korea News Service/AP

A strategic cruise missile test launch conducted on the destroyer Choe Hyon at an undisclosed location in North Korea in March. Photo: KCNA/KNS/AFP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom on June 30, 2019. Photo: KCNA

US soldiers dismount a Stryker armoured vehicle during the annual Freedom Shield joint military exercise with South Korean forces on March 11, 2026. Photo: US Army National Guard

South Korean Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul (left) speaks with General Xavier Brunson, commander of US Forces Korea, during an inauguration ceremony in Seoul on September 22, 2026. Photo: EPA/Yonhap

North Korea’s new missile museum: part shrine, part arms bazaar

Kim Jong-un tours North Korea’s new National Defence Revolution Museum with his wife and daughter on Sunday. Photo: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/AP

Kim Jong-un cuts a red ribbon during the opening ceremony of the National Defence Revolution Museum on Sunday. Photo: KCNA/AFP

Kim Jong-un is shown a display of scopes and binoculars at the new museum. Photo: KCNA/Reuters

Kim Jong-un and his daughter Ju-ae walk along a corridor lined with photographs during their tour of the National Defence Revolution Museum. Photo: KCNA/AFP

Kim Jong-un and his daughter at the museum. Ju-ae’s presence at the opening was meant to impress upon North Koreans that Kim’s achievements would endure for generations, analysts say. Photo: KCNA/AFP

A tactical ballistic missile is test-fired from an undisclosed location in North Korea on Monday. Photo: KCNA/AFP

North Korea’s DMZ landmines sabotage the South’s peace push

Major General Yang Jin-hyeok, director of operations for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, holds up a previously recovered North Korean anti-personnel mine during a briefing in Seoul on Monday. Photo: Korea Times

Major General Yang Jin-hyeok, director of operations for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, shows footage of a landmine removal operation conducted in the DMZ during a briefing in Seoul on Monday. Photo: Yonhap/AFP

The national flags of South Korea (right) and North Korea (left) are seen within the DMZ on September 12. Photo: AFP

People work near a river on the North Korean side of the DMZ in October 2024, as seen from South Korea’s Odusan Unification Observatory in Paju. Photo: AFP

Major General Yang Jin-hyeok of Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff holds up a recovered North Korean anti-personnel mine during a briefing on Monday. Photo: Korea Times

Border mine blasts show why both Koreas urgently need to restore communication

A North Korean guard post and military fences in the border county of Gaepung is seen from a South Korean observation deck at Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo on July 1. Photo: AFP

South Korea’s Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul speaks at a parliamentary defence committee hearing on the landmine explosion accident on Tuesday. Photo: Yonhap / AFP

A TV screen shows an image of Kim Yo-jong during a news programme at the Seoul Railway Station on June 1, 2023. Photo: AP

South Korean soldiers remove loudspeakers that were set up for propaganda broadcasts near the DMZ on August 4, 2025. Photo: South Korean Defence Ministry / AFP

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Kim’s repeated accusations of Seoul provocations appear to build a case for blaming South Korea for any future hostilities, experts say


Kim’s repeated accusations of Seoul provocations appear to build a case for blaming South Korea for any future hostilities, experts say.


What border warnings by Kim Jong-un’s sister reveal about inter-Korean tensions

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Kim’s repeated accusations of Seoul provocations appear to build a case for blaming South Korea for any future hostilities, experts say

Kim’s repeated accusations of Seoul provocations appear to build a case for blaming South Korea for any future hostilities, experts say