North Korea rejects South's offer of envoys to defuse tension as it vows to redeploy troops to border

South Korea's unification minister has offered to resign over the sharp rise in tensions with the North
Tensions are rising between the two countries
Imogen Braddick17 June 2020

North Korea has rejected an offer by South Korean President Moon Jae-in to send special envoys to Pyongyang to defuse tension.

A day after North Korea blew up an empty inter-Korean liaison office, the country vowed to send soldiers to the border, reinstall guard posts and resume military exercises, reversing agreements reached with South Korea just two years ago.

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, called the South's offer of special envoys a "petty farce" and a "trick" to tide over a crisis.

She also slammed Moon's recent urging of North Korea to return to talks and find a breakthrough with South Korea.

In response, one of Moon's senior presidential advisers, Yoon Do-han, called Kim Yo Jong's statement "very rude," "irrational" and "senseless".

Yoon warned South Korea won't tolerate similar statements by North Korea any longer, while expressing regret over North Korea's publicising of South Korea's offer to send envoys.

South Korea's unification minister, Kim Yeon-chul, has offered his resignation over the sharp rise in tensions with the North, saying he takes responsibility for the worsening relations.

It comes as North Korea said it will send soldiers to reinstall guard posts on the border and resume military exercises at frontline areas.

The North's General Staff said military units will be deployed to the Diamond Mountain resort and the Kaesong industrial complex, both just north of the heavily fortified border.

The two sites, built with South Korean financing, have been closed for years due to inter-Korean disputes and US-led sanctions.

These steps would reverse agreements reached between the Koreas in September 2018 aimed at lowering military tensions along the border.

Under the 2018 agreements, both Koreas halted live-firing exercises, removed some land mines and destroyed guard posts along the world's most heavily armed border.

The announcement is the latest in a series provocations North Korea has taken in what experts believe are calculated moves to apply pressure on Seoul and Washington amid stalled nuclear negotiations.

Though North Korea's recent actions haven't lead to clashes or bloodshed, it's still raising tensions to a level unseen since Pyongyang entered nuclear talks in 2018.

South Korea's military expressed regret over the North Korean announcement and warned that the North will face unspecified consequences if it violates the 2018 agreements.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday said that recent actions were taken to retaliate for South Korea's failure to prevent activists from floating propaganda leaflets across the border.

North Korea's first missile test of 2020

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It said the destruction of the building Tuesday was a "reflection of the zeal of our enraged people to punish human scum who challenged the noblest dignity and prestige of our country and those who sheltered the scum, perpetrators of shuddering crime".

It said North Korea will set the intensity and timing for its additional steps while closely monitoring South Korean moves.

North Korea will likely next dismantle South Korean-built structures, equipment and other assets at the two cooperation sites before performing military drills and firing missiles and shells towards the sea, said Cheong Seong-Chang, an analyst at the Sejong Institute, a think tank in South Korea.

Major General Jeon Dong Jin at the Joint Chiefs of Staff said South Korea maintains military readiness and will strive to prevent military tensions from rising.

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