Seoul Orders Troops to Hit Back at Any North Korean Provocation
Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Jin Yong-sung gave the order during a visit to a central front-line unit, according to a South Korean news agency.
Jin rejected North Korea’s claim that Seoul bears responsibility for the rising tensions that followed a Sept. 21 landmine blast, which wounded three South Korean soldiers. He called Pyongyang’s effort to cast lawful South Korean military operations as provocations unacceptable.
He instructed troops to respond firmly to any further provocations and breaches of the armistice agreement, including crossings of the Military Demarcation Line.
The warning came after Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said Monday that Pyongyang could bring back loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts and station additional tactical strike weapons along the frontier. She accused Seoul of using warning shots and broadcasts to disrupt North Korea’s border fortification work.
Jin characterized the September blast, caused by North Korean-planted antipersonnel mines, as a clear provocation and a violation of the armistice.
The incident has sharpened tensions around the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas. The countries remain technically at war because the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty.
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