South warns North it will respond to provocations 'without hesitation'

North Korea

Published: 28 Nov. 2023, 18:11 Updated: 29 Nov. 2023, 09:25

South warns North it will respond to provocations 'without hesitation'

President Yoon Suk Yeol addresses an audience at a conference in Ilsan, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Yoon Suk Yeol criticized North Korea for trying to sustain the regime with nuclear weapons and missiles on Tuesday, as tensions flare between the two Koreas following the suspension of a landmark military agreement.

“The North Korean regime is trying to offset South Korea’s modernized non-nuclear military capabilities with nuclear weapons and missiles and is trying to neutralize our people’s will for security and break down alliances and cooperation by threatening to use nuclear force,” he told an audience at a conference in Ilsan, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday. “This is absurd.”

In an equally strong rhetoric on the same day, Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said South Korea's military will respond to any provocation from the North without hesitation as the North restored guard posts in the demilitarized zone (DMZ).

“We must make the enemy clearly aware that any reckless action that harms peace is the beginning of destruction,” Shin told the chiefs of staffs of the Army, Navy and Air Force in a meeting on Tuesday, adding that South Korean military officials would have leeway to respond to provocations from the North without reporting to the government first.

“It is not words or writing that prevent the enemy from provoking, but strong power,” he said. “History's constant lesson is that peace comes from deterrence based on strong power.”

Shin also called for “immediate, strong, and ultimate punishment” of North Korea during his visit to the ROK-U. S. Combined Forces Command on Monday.

The statement from the minister followed the North’s rebuilding of guard posts along the border between the two Koreas as they suspended their military agreement of 2018.

The agreement, which was signed by then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, entailed the demolition of guard posts on both sides within 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) of the military demarcation line and a ban on military exercises and surveillance flights near the border to reduce the risk of accidental clashes.

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik speaks with the chiefs of staff at the ministry headquarters in Seoul on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

Each side had demolished 10 guard posts after the agreement was signed.

Defense Ministry officials on Monday disclosed photos showing North Korean soldiers building makeshift watch towers and carrying large firearms into the demilitarized zone.

“We believe the observation posts will be built at 11 locations,” a ministry official said.

Kim Myung-soo, chairman of the JCS, told the press on Monday that the South will take “corresponding measures.”

North Korea's state media said on Tuesday that its spy satellite launched last week took images of the White House and the Pentagon, in addition to its previous claims it took pictures of U.S. bases in Korea and overseas.

However, it did not disclose any images it claimed to have been taken.

The North's Korean Central News Agency said the images of the U.S. government buildings were taken when the satellite passed over the United States around 11:35 p.m. on Monday.

It added that the satellite also took pictures of Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, Norfolk Naval Station, the Newport News shipyard and an airfield in Virginia, as well as four U.S. nuclear carriers and a British aircraft carrier at Norfolk Naval Station.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]