Kim Yo Jong threatens Seoul with loudspeakers and weapons – Lee seeks wartime command
North Korea warns of a “grave situation” at the border and weighs more tactical weapons. South Korean President Lee calls for an early handover of wartime operational control from the US.
Archive image · Photo: U.S. Department of State from United States / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, threatened South Korea with new military steps along the border. “A grave situation is prevailing along the southern border,” she said in a statement carried by state agency KCNA on Monday. Pyongyang is considering deploying more “tactical strike means” and resuming propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts. She accused South Korean troops of 2,870 warning broadcasts and 201 warning shots between August 1 and October 17.
Seoul's defence ministry said warning broadcasts are made when necessary through small speakers at guard posts, not the large systems switched off in June. According to South Korean data, North Korean troops crossed the demarcation line about 50 times in August and September. A joint investigation by Seoul and the UN Command concluded that North Korean mines injured three South Korean soldiers in September; Pyongyang denies this.
President Lee Jae Myung on Monday called for an early transfer of wartime operational control of South Korean troops, currently held by the United States. South Korea is “sufficiently capable” of taking it back and talks are “basically going well”, he said. His government wants the command returned before his term ends in 2030. US Forces Korea commander Xavier Brunson had said that “conditions have changed”.