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North Korea, which has a nuclear weapon, has also rejected a proposal by South Korean President Moon Jae-in to send envoys to negotiate.
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, called it an “unfortunate and tactless offer,” the official KCNA news agency reported. In an angry tirade against Moon Jae-in, Kim Yo Jong called him “mentally ill”.
Seoul responded to unusually harsh criticism, saying its comments were “useless and very harsh.”
“We warn that we will no longer tolerate the reckless actions and words of the North,” said Yoon Do-han, spokesman for the presidency.
The Defense Ministry has announced that North Korea’s threats would violate several Korean agreements. “The North will definitely pay if such measures are taken,” the statement said.
As a result of the dispute, South Korea Association Minister Kim Yeon-chul resigned on Wednesday and said he was “taking responsibility” for the deterioration of relations with Korea.
The liaison office building in the Kesong industrial zone near the border between the two countries was demolished after North Korea issued a series of angry statements to Seoul about anti-Pyongyang propaganda pamphlets sent by refugees from Korea. of the North in balloons.
The liaison office was suspended in January due to a coronavirus pandemic.
Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul faltered after a failed meeting between Kim Jong Un and United States President Donald Trump in Hanoi last February. The leaders’ talks ended in vain, without reaching an agreement on easing sanctions against North Korea and a response from Pyongyang.
Increasing tensions
Analysts say Pyongyang’s actions are likely to provoke a crisis to pressure Seoul and demand concessions until North Korea’s denuclearization talks with Washington are stalled.
In a statement issued by the official KCNA news agency, a spokesman for the North Korean army said it would deploy regiments in the tourist area of Kimgangsan and the Kesong complex.
Korean joint projects were carried out in both areas. South Korean tourists were heading to scenic Mount Kimgangsan before the incident in 2008, when a North Korean soldier shot a missing woman on the way.
At the Kesong complex, where there was a liaison office until Tuesday, South Korean companies hired North Korean workers and paid Pyongyang for their work.
A North Korean army spokesman also said guard posts that had been removed from the DMZ under the 2018 deal would be reinstated to “strengthen front-line protection.”
He added that the military exercises will resume at the border and that the military will plan to distribute brochures in South Korea.
Since the beginning of June, Pyongyang has boldly condemned South Korea for the leaflets of activists flying to North Korea for propaganda against the Pyongyang regime.
Flyers sent in balloons or bottles thrown into the sea by activists criticize Kim Jong Un for human rights abuses and nuclear ambitions. North Korean refugees have been doing this regularly, but recently Pyongyang’s tone has sharpened in this regard.
Moon Jae-in, who has long supported dialogue with North Korea, has been criticized for his “unrealistic” course.
On Monday, the left-wing president delivered a speech calling for a Korean dialogue and emphasizing the importance of peace on the peninsula.
However, Kim Yo Jong called his speech “disgusting, obscene, and arrogant,” adding that Moon Jae-in “looks mentally unhealthy, even though he looks normal from the outside.”
Both Koreans are still formally at war, as the 1950-1953 Korean War ended only with a ceasefire and not with a peace treaty.
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