A stern yet careful response is needed

North Korea is ratcheting up the level of tensions with military provocations starting the new year. The artillery shells it fired from above the Northern Limit Line near the Baeknyeong Island and Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea last Friday fell on the marine buffer zone where artillery firing and maneuvering exercises are strictly banned, as stipulated by the Sept. 19, 2018 military agreement in Pyongyang. The North claimed it was just a shelling drill, but that was a clear violation of the agreement. In November, Pyongyang declared the agreement null and void.

In response to the North’s firing more than 200 rounds of shells, our military fired over 400 rounds from K9 self-propelled howitzers to show strong will to retaliate against its provocations. On Saturday, North Korea also fired over 60 rounds of shells toward its inland area, but our military didn’t respond to moderate the pace of its reaction.

When North Korea fired artillery shells on Friday, our military and civilians responded swiftly and calmly. Residents living in the two islands off the sensitive maritime border were quickly evacuated from their homes to designated shelters and military authorities controlled maritime traffic to prepare for any emergency. Given growing concerns about the North’s provocation by land, sea and air, our government, military and civilians must closely communicate with one another to prevent unwanted casualties and property damages.

The provocations starting the year was pre-warned. In the full meeting of the Workers’ Party in December, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un redefined inter-Korean relations as “belligerent ones as in the case of two enemies at war,” urging the party and military to accelerate war preparations “to conquer the whole territory of South Korea.”

North Korea apparently supplied Russia with military weapons to be used against Ukraine before using them against South Korea. After its weapons trade with Russia in the September summit, North Korea most likely provided its short-range ballistic missiles for Russia for its raid on Ukraine last week. In reaction, senior officials from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan on Saturday announced a joint statement in Washington to denounce North Korea and Russia for their clandestine military deal.

North Korea will surely escalate the level of provocation against South Korea. Our military must dampen its will to provoke South Korea through stern security posture and retaliation. At the same time, our military must demonstrate crisis management skills to prevent an unwanted armed clash. The government must be careful not to be exploited by North Korea to prompt our internal conflict ahead of the April 10 parliamentary elections.