[WEEKLY FOCUS] KOREAN PENINSULA TENSIONS

김정은, 한국을 “주적“으로 규정...북한, 향후 행보는? 2024 is off to a rough start for the two Koreas, following provocations by the North near the maritime border. On top of that, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has labeled South Korea the regime’s “main enemy“ for the very first time. Joining me is our defense correspondent Choi Min-jung, in the studio. Welcome, Min-jung. Thank you for having me. Min-jung, Kim Jong-un wrapped up 2023 by defining the two Koreas as quote, “hostile nations at war.“ But now, as we begin the new year,.. he is calling the South the regime’s principal enemy That’s right, Dami. North Korea has called the South its “main enemy“ a couple of times in the past, when the two sides were going through a rough patch, but this is the first time that leader, Kim Jong-un, directly declared South Korea as its main enemy. This was said during a visit to munitions factories earlier this week, where he inspected what appeared to be missile vehicles for short-range ballistic missiles. “Declaring that the Republic of Korea is our main enemy, he said what we should focus on when it comes to the relations with the hostile state, is to strengthen self-defense capabilities and nuclear war deterrence.“ Kim also stressed he had no intention of avoiding war, and threatened to quote, “completely destroy South Korea,“ if it attempted to harm the regime. Seoul’s Unification Ministry downplayed Kim’s remarks as nothing more than an outdated tactic. But despite that, concerns are growing, as North Korea is expected to be preparing more powerful provocations this year. “Looking at Kim’s remarks, military tensions on the Korean Peninsula are expected to increase significantly in 2024. We should expect a show of force when South Korea and the U.S. conduct joint military exercises in March and August. We should also expect to see North Korea pressure the U.S. at the highest level possible ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November, causing tensions on the Peninsula to escalate.“ Well, we have already witnessed North Korea ramping up its hostility toward the South, with artillery fire near the maritime border Right, North Korea fired artillery shells into waters off its west coast last Sunday, for the third consecutive day. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff detected around 90 artillery shots that day,.. following the firing of 2 hundred shells on Friday, and 60 on Saturday. The North Korean leader’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, however,.. attempted to shame the South Korean military’s detection capabilities, by claiming that the North had not actually fired 60 artillery shells on Saturday, but instead, detonated explosives simulating the sound of artillery fire. But, Seoul’s JCS immediately dismissed the statement, calling it quote, “comedy-like propaganda“ that is once again attempting to damage trust in the military and cause conflict within the South. Following the North’s artillery fire, the South Korean military officially declared that buffer zones outlined in the inter-Korean military agreement are no longer effective what does this mean? So,.. there are buffer zones along the inter-Korean border which were set up in 2018, when the two Koreas signed an inter-Korean military agreement to halt hostilities near the border. But following continued artillery fire by North Korea off its western coast, the military on Monday declared that these zones were no longer effective. To give a little explanation on the locations of the buffer zones under the pact, First, on the ground,. a 5-kilometer buffer zone was established in the north and south,. from the Military Demarcation Line. Here, artillery fire and regimental or higher-level field maneuvers were suspended. In the maritime buffer zone at sea, all coastal and naval artillery as well as maritime exercises were banned. In the air, a no-fly zone banned aircraft from flying within 20 kilometers of the MDL in the western section of the Demilitarized Zone, and within 40 kilometers of the zone in the east. Tensions along the border have also been escalating, as Pyongyang has been restoring some of the guard posts it had previously destroyed inside the DMZ in recent months. The regime has also allegedly left underground facilities intact as well. Now, this is another violation of the inter-Korean military pact, as the two Koreas had agreed to destroy ten guard posts each inside the DMZ back in 2018... #SouthKorea #NorthKorea #KimJongun #Main_enemy #대한민국 #북한 #김정은 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스 📣 Facebook : 📣 Twitter : 📣 Homepage : 2024-01-13, 12:00 (KST)