DPRK blew up communications center on the border with South Korea: countries put troops on alert

The situation is aggravating. North Korea wants to send troops to border areas, writes "Lenta.ru".

Photo: Shutterstock

An explosion occurred on the border of two Koreas

A column of smoke in the industrial complex area in the North Korean city of Kaesong was noticed on the afternoon of Monday, June 16. The Ministry of Unification of the Republic of Korea (South) reported that at 14:49 local time, the DPRK authorities blew up the inter-Korean communications center. Then Pyongyang's official statement appeared that the building was "completely destroyed by a terrible explosion," however, a minute later - at 14:50.

In Seoul, it was explained that the North Korean side had planned everything in advance and openly announced this “unfriendly act”. We are talking about the words of Kim Yo Jeong - sister of the leader of the DPRK and first deputy head of the department of the Central Committee of the Labor Party of Korea. On June 13, she warned that South Korea would soon see the destruction of the useless post office on the border.

North and South put their troops on alert

The explosion occurred a few hours after the news of the DPRK's plans to introduce the military into the demilitarized border regions. As stated in a statement by the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army, Pyongyang is studying a plan of action, according to which army units will be returned to the region. It was indicated that this would be done in order to “turn the front line into a fortress” and strengthen vigilance against South Korea.

Seoul responded by stating that South Korean troops were on high alert. The country's Ministry of Defense emphasized that they take the situation seriously and, in coordination with the United States, are closely following its development. In addition, immediately after the bombing of the communications hub, South Korea convened an emergency meeting of senior security officials.

As noted by the South Korean news agency Yonghap, the DPRK has not provided any additional information on the movement of its troops, but we can talk about the demilitarized areas around the city of Keson and Mount Kymgansan. The military were removed from there to promote the now defunct inter-Korean projects in the field of economics and tourism. In addition, the parties, by agreement of 2018, removed their soldiers from their posts in the joint security zone in the border village of Panmunjom.

On the subject: Russia's nuclear doctrine: whom and why the Kremlin is ready to fire rockets

North Korea disconnected all communications with South last week

On June 9, the DPRK unilaterally stopped communicating with its southern neighbor through all communication channels, including the military and the special line between the top leadership of the two countries. The last straw was a series of incidents involving the transfer of campaign leaflets from South Korea in hot air balloons. The leadership of the DPRK has always reacted very painfully to such agitation and has repeatedly called on its southern partners to influence the situation. Pyongyang said that Seoul’s actions led to "inter-Korean relations to the end point," and therefore there is nothing more to discuss "at the negotiating table with the South Korean authorities, which over time cause only disappointment."

In recent months, relations between the two countries have become much more complicated, and shootings have occurred several times in the border demilitarized zone. The DPRK has repeatedly pointed out that South Korea is undermining peaceful endeavors, since it allows sending propaganda leaflets across the border, and also continues to strengthen its army with the help of the United States.

DPRK promised retaliation for distributing campaign leaflets

On June 15, Pyongyang warned South Korea of ​​impending military retaliation for distributing campaign leaflets that activists in balloons send across the border to the North. "Our invincible revolutionary army will carry out an act of retaliation for insulting our people, which has never been so indignant before," the report said.

Two days earlier, Kim Yo Jung said that Pyongyang was preparing a new step in response to sending campaign leaflets. Then she called Seoul an enemy and stated that it was time to “confidently end relations with the South Korean authorities.”

South Korea, in turn, accused the organization of North Korean defectors, the Alliance of Movements for a Free North Korea, of violating the law on inter-Korean cooperation. The authorities said that it was these activists who illegally transfer things across the border: they transport leaflets and bottles of rice in balloons. Seoul also thought about enacting a ban on such acts in the law.

At the same time, Russian Koreans Konstantin Asmolov noted that legislative restrictions had to be introduced earlier. According to him, Pyongyang repeatedly raised the problem of distributing leaflets, but Seoul justified itself by not being able to ban people from such actions. At the same time, balloons took off from the border zones, which can only be accessed through special passes.

Pyongyang accused Washington of disrupting the DPRK-US dialogue

Earlier in July, DPRK Foreign Minister Lee Song Gwon said that relations between his country and Washington had turned hopeless in two years, and the situation on the Korean peninsula was deteriorating day by day. According to him, the spark of optimism for peaceful prosperity went out under the pressure of a pessimistic nightmare. The minister stressed that the country no longer intends to unilaterally abandon anything and intends to develop a nuclear shield.

Lee Song Gwon explained that Pyongyang has taken a number of measures to improve relations, including abandoning nuclear tests, but did not see a response from the United States, but only heard “proud chatter” from US leader Donald Trump and the help of the South Korean army.

“It was discovered that “improving relations” between the DPRK and the United States means the overthrow of the system, “guaranteeing security” means a nuclear preventive strike, and “building trust” means permanent isolation and strangulation of the DPRK. (...) There is nothing more hypocritical than broken promises,” he said.

On the subject: From Nuclear Race to Global Warming: Challenges the World Forgot About Coronavirus

June 25 marks 70 years since the outbreak of the Korean War

The conflict between the DPRK and the Republic of Korea lasted three years - from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953. Often, it is seen as an indirect war between the United States and its allies and the forces of the PRC and the USSR. As a result, a truce was concluded between the parties, a demilitarized zone was created on the border drawn along the 38th parallel. At the same time, the DPRK has since stated at least six times that it does not intend to observe a truce. The peace treaty between the parties was never signed.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Pentagon accuses Russia and other "unfriendly countries" of provocations against US troops

Do not travel: the most dangerous countries for the Americans in the world

Disaster expert says what will happen to humanity in the event of a nuclear war

The United States will tighten control over the export of nuclear and missile technologies to Russia

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.