North Korea put its troops on a war footing yesterday as South Korea rejected an ultimatum to stop propaganda broadcasts or face military action, prompting China to voice concern and urge both sides to step back.
South Korean Vice Defence Minister Baek Seung-joo said his government expected the North to fire at some of the 11 sites where Seoul has set up loudspeakers on its side of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the countries.
The South earlier rejected an ultimatum that it halt anti-Pyongyang broadcasts by Saturday afternoon or face attack.
The North’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement the military and the public stood ready to safeguard its regime even if it meant fighting an all-out war, and it rejected the idea of restraint in an apparent rebuff of China’s calls.
Official media said Pyongyang’s military was not bluffing.
This time, I will make sure to sever the vicious cycle of North Korea’s provocations
China, which remains reclusive North Korea’s main economic backer despite diminished political clout to influence Pyongyang, said it was deeply concerned about the escalation of tension and called for calm from both sides.
Since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, Pyongyang and Seoul have often exchanged threats, and dozens of soldiers have been killed in clashes, yet the two sides have always pulled back from all-out war. The latest hostility is a further blow to South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s efforts to improve North-South ties, which have been virtually frozen since the deadly 2010 sinking of a South Korean navy ship, which Seoul blames on Pyongyang.
Park cancelled an event yesterday and made a visit to a military command post, dressed in army camouflage.
Both sides traded harsh rhetoric late into yesterday night.
The North committed “cowardly criminal acts,” South Korean Defence Minister Han Min-koo said. “This time, I will make sure to sever the vicious cycle of North Korea’s provocations.”
North Korea launched four artillery shells into South Korea on Thursday, according to Seoul, in apparent protest against the broadcasts. The South fired back 29 artillery rounds. Pyongyang accused the South of inventing a pretext to fire into the North.
Both sides reported no casualties or damage in their territory, indicating the rounds were just warning shots.
“The fact that both sides’ shells didn’t damage anything means they did not want to spread an armed clash. There is always a chance for war, but that chance is very, very low,” said Yang Moo-jin, professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. The North’s shelling came after it had demanded last weekend that South Korea end the broadcasts or face a military response – a relatively rare case of following up on its frequent threats against the South. Its 48-hour ultimatum, delivered in a letter to the South Korean Defence Ministry, was also uncharacteristically specific, said John Delury, a North Korea expert at Yonsei University in Seoul. The deadline is around 5pm today in Seoul.