North Korean leader suspends military actions against South Korea
By Kang Seung-woo
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has suspended envisaged military action against South Korea, the North's state-run media reported Wednesday, a move seen as diffusing rapidly escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula "temporarily."
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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un / Korea Times file |
However, the South Korean military still remains on alert over possible North Korean provocative actions, given that Pyongyang's decision was to "suspend" military actions, not cancel them.
Experts say the North Korean regime is taking a breather, with a plan to take its next step based on the South Korean government's "sincerity" to normalize their frosty bilateral relations.
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the decision was made Tuesday when Kim presided over a preliminary meeting of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) via videoconferencing.
"At the preliminary meeting, the WPK Central Military Commission took stock of the prevailing situation and suspended military action plans against the South made at the fifth meeting of the Seventh Central Military Commission by the General Staff of the Korean People's Army," the media said.
The suspension comes as a surprise given that its general staff had repeated warnings that the North Korean military was ready to take military action against the South. Its previously made threats were to deploy soldiers back to the Mount Geumgang tourist area and Gaeseong Industrial Complex; rebuild sentry posts along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ); resume military exercises in border areas, including seas off its southwest coast; and help its people to send anti-South Korean leaflets across the border.
Earlier this month, the North demolished an inter-Korean liaison office in the border city of Gaeseong, angered by the South's "failure" to stop anti-North leaflets sent by North Korean defectors and activists across the border. It also reinstalled a dozen propaganda loudspeakers along the DMZ, which had been removed following April 27, 2018 Panmunjeom Declaration made between President Moon Jae-in and Kim.
All the hostile activities and threats were made under the direction of Kim's sister and the country's de facto No. 2 Kim Yo-jong, according to North Korean media.
However, the brother suspended such activities, and following his decision, the North was seen taking the loudspeakers down again, according to the military authorities, Wednesday.
"North Korea is taking down those newly installed loudspeakers from earlier today," a military officer said.
In addition, the North's propaganda media outlets withdrew their earlier articles critical of its southern neighbor.
"The North Korean regime has threatened with military actions, while leaving leeway for the South Korean government to take countermeasures palatable to it," said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University.
"Taking a closer look at the North's announcement, Kim Jong-un has suspended its military actions, not cancel them, which means the military options are still available as the policy can be tabled at a general session. I think the North will take its next step after observing the South Korean authorities' responses."
Park added: "The North will keep its word regarding the four military actions in the end."
Kim Dong-yup, a professor at Kyungnam University's Far East Institute, also said the North may justify its military actions.
"It is hard to understand that the North has suspended its planned military actions following the demolition of the liaison office ― despite its supreme leader's decision," Kim said.
"I guess that the North is checking whether the South Korean government's measures against the anti-North leaflets are serious."
Unification Ministry spokesman Yoh Sang-key said the government was reviewing the North's intentions from its latest decision.
The KCNA added the meeting also discussed "some documents carrying the state measures for further bolstering the war deterrent of the country along with the decision to back off the military threats," leaving speculation that the North may pass bills regarding launching a submarine-launched ballistic missile and modernizing its weapons.
However, some say there will be no military actions given that the North's recent harsh rhetoric against the South was aimed at tightening domestic control, which has paid off.
Despite the suspended military action, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said, Wednesday, the military was maintaining a watertight combat posture, urging the North to withdraw from its heralded military provocations.
"While retaining a combat readiness, the military will manage the current situation without worrying the people," Jeong said during a National Assembly meeting.
（作者：新闻中心）
