What you need to know
North Korea supreme leader Kim Jong-un has announced through official media that its military front line is ready for war and asks South Korea to stop pumping radio propaganda.
North Korea supreme leader Kim Jong-un has announced through official media that its military front line is ready for war and asks South Korea to stop pumping radio propaganda.
UDN reports, North Korea laid mines in the demilitarized zone near South Korea in early August, causing two South Korean soldiers accidentally detonating the mines and getting seriously injured. South Korea therefore restarted radio propaganda to the north that had ceased for 11 years.
North Korea thinks the radio propaganda insults its leader, Kim Jong-un, and due to joint military exercises of South Korea and the US beginning this week, North Korea believes the south intends to provoke and is opening fire.
Along with the heated tensions, South Korea authorities will adjust the Jindo Dog Alert to the highest level. South Korea cast balloons with brochures of propaganda last October and led to the two countries exchanging fire in the demilitarized zone. South Korea issued the same alert back then.
Apple Daily reports, North Korea opened fire towards the border and hit the propaganda speakers. South Korea authorities claims there were no casualties and emitted 29 shells back.
According to Yonghap, the official media of North Korea, Kim summoned an emergency meeting on August 20 and ordered the soldiers to be armed and fully ready for war. He announced the North Korea army would enter a fully armed status starting from 17:00 pm. The official media even says the North Korea will reinforce its operations and dispatch commanders to the front line to destroy psychological warfare tactics if South Korea does not stop the radio propaganda within 48 hours.
CNA reports, the spokesperson of the Blue House, Min Kyung-wook, says, President Park Geon-hye held the National Security Council at 6:00 pm and heard reports of the incident in western frontline. She has ordered relevant departments to provoke North Korea.
Participants of the council say it has been only 16 days since North Korea initiated provocations of laying mines in the demilitarized zone. Also with South Korea and the US being in the middle of joint military exercises, Ulchi-Freedom Guardian（UFG）, it is estimated that North Korea intends to open fire in order to provoke South Korea.
BBC reports, the Ministry of Unification in South Korea held a briefing at 8:30 pm and said the Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea（WPK）Central Committee, Kim Yang-Gon, delivered letters through the liaison officers to South Korea.
The letters read, “South Korea’s restarting of the radio propaganda will be taken as a declaration of war. The broadcast must be stopped.” They also said authorities are willing to improve and find a way to break through the current situations.
South Korea authorities have issued evacuation notifications to the residents near the border, including Yeoncheon County and Paju, Gyeonggi Province and Ganhwa Island, Incheon. Local tourists have also been evacuated.
South Korean residents living near the assault zone have retreated to shelters. Photo Credit：AP
Translated by June
Edited by Olivia Yang
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