After carrying out an intercontinental ballistic missile test at the end of March, the North Korean regime is continuing its offensive strategy towards the South. Nuclear strike in the event of an attack, insult to the South Korean Defense Minister: the latest statements by Kim Yo-jong, the sister of the North Korean leader, seem to open the door to a new period of complicated relationship between the two Koreas.
With our correspondent in Seoul,
The war in Ukraine and the confrontation between China and the United States offer the North Korean regime an interesting leeway to continue hostile acts without risking further UN sanctions. In this extremely tense international context, it is difficult to imagine Moscow and Beijing aligning themselves with Washington to sanction Pyongyang.
Added to this are the positions taken by the new South Korean president Yoon Seok-yeol, which will take office on May 10. In favor of a more offensive approach to relations with North Korea, he mentioned several times during his campaign the possibility of preventive strikes in the event of an imminent attack from Pyongyang.
A threat to be taken seriously
This Tuesday, April 5, Kim Yo-jong, the very influential sister of dictator Kim Jong-un, responded to him by waving the threat of nuclear weapons in the event of an attack from the South. An outing also for Suh Wook, the current Minister of Defense, whom she called ” mad ” and D'” garbage for explaining that Seoul was able to carry out precision strikes on North Korean missile launch sites.
The number one of the North Korean army Park Jong-chon also mentioned possible military responses, but Kim Yo-jong is not just anyone within the regime. Kim Jong-un’s sister has a very important role within the North Korean apparatus: seen and heard a lot during the period of negotiations with the Trump administration, she is the only woman to sit on the very powerful commission of state affairs.
His words were picked up by radio, television and newspapers aimed at the North Korean population, which shows a real desire to prepare public opinion for a change of direction in relations with the South.
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State media clarified that the statement was released after ” permission “, a formula intended to show that Kim Jong-un himself shares the position of his sister. The next few weeks are ripe for escalation, as joint US-South Korean military exercises are due to take place in mid-April. For its part, Pyongyang will celebrate the 110th birthday of Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the country’s first leader.
What strategy for North Korea?
The regime can cut the direct line with the South or destroy historic buildings of cooperation between the two Koreas, but it is above all the various military options that attract the eye of experts. If the last intercontinental ballistic missile test, would only be the hwasong 15 according to Washington and Seoul and not the 17th, this famous monster missile presented by the regime propaganda, the prospect of a new trial is deemed credible by experts. The missile could, for example, this time fly over Japan.
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Another possibility: an underground nuclear test, which would be a first since 2017. American intelligence services as well as satellite images have revealed a resumption of activities, in particular in the Yongbyon reactor and in the nuclear test site of Punggye- ri, which North Korea partially destroyed in 2018 in front of international journalists to show the regime’s good intentions towards former US President Donald Trump. At the time, discussions around a eventual denuclearization of the peninsula were still on the table. A time that now seems very distant.