[Edaily Reporter Kim In-kyoung ] Kim Yo-jong, Director of the General Affairs Department of North Korea’s Workers’ Party of Korea, stated, “Our new response measures along the entire border will be placed on standby, and loudspeakers aimed at South Korea will also be put on standby within a few days.” Director Kim also used harsh language toward South Korea, calling it a “scared dog” and “moron.” In response, the Ministry of Unification countered, “We urge them to stop threatening us and to work toward a practical resolution of the issue.”

According to the Korean Central News Agency on the 22nd, “Vice Director Kim Yo-jong sent the following warning again in the early morning of the 22nd in response to the presumptuous remarks made on the 21st by an individual claiming to be a Special Advisor on Defense Policy at the South Korean Blue House.”

Vice Minister Kim stated, “Those brazen, senseless, corrupt, and illogical morons—who bring about bloodshed through their own suspicious thinking, yet shift the blame onto others and shamelessly meddle in others’ internal affairs—have, as always, nothing but baseless claims to criticize our justified measures,” He argued, “This farce may continue for the time being.”

He then addressed the Lee Jae-myung administration, saying, “I’ve already dealt with the Moon Jae-in and Yoon Suk-yeol administrations, but I’ve never seen anyone as foolish and pathetic as those who have jumped on the bandwagon of the current administration,” and assessed, “The officials at the Blue House and in the government are, without exception, a bunch of fools who are all cut from the same cloth. This reveals the vulnerability and immaturity of the Lee Jae-myung administration.”

In particular, referring to Kim Byung-ju, the Blue House Special Advisor on Defense Policy—who is also a member of the Democratic Party of Korea—Director Kim asserted, “This so-called Special Advisor on Defense Policy at the Blue House should stop rambling and shut his mouth immediately,” adding, “He is a nobody who doesn’t even know the meaning of the phrase ‘the pot calling the kettle black,’ yet he is spouting irresponsible nonsense.”

Director Kim asserted, “In fact, responding to every single one of these people’s antics is a dirty business in itself, but I am once again making this statement in accordance with my mandate,” adding, “Within our territorial waters, where our sovereignty is exercised, the fortification projects aimed at achieving our objectives will continue successfully without fail.”

He further raised his voice, stating, “Once the border is fortified, the risk of military conflict between North Korea and South Korea will be significantly reduced, and many complex issues will be resolved,” adding, “We are not provoking; we are responding justly.”

Vice Minister Kim warned, “Our new countermeasures along the entire border will be placed on standby, and loudspeakers aimed at South Korea will also be put on standby within a few days,” adding, “If the current South Korean administration continues to quibble, nitpick, and make baseless claims, it will face the most dire and humiliating situation.”

She further added, “This is not a threat but a clear warning,” and remarked, “We’ll see what happens.”

Professor Im In-chul of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University said, “North Korea appears to view the completion of the fortification (permanent establishment) of its southern border as the final step in establishing ‘two hostile states,’” and “It appears they are attempting to transform the MDL—which was merely a ‘temporary military demarcation line’ under the Armistice Agreement—into a ‘permanent border (an international legal border)’ between the North and South, while simultaneously seeking to block any legal grounds for our government or the UN Command to supervise or control North Korea’s wall construction or military activities within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) based on the Armistice Agreement.”

The Ministry of Unification stated, “Acts in the MDL area that violate the Armistice Agreement and heighten the risk of tension and conflict must be halted immediately.” It continued, “Just over a year ago, we experienced unbearable suffering for residents on both sides as we turned on loudspeakers directed at each other. We must not repeat these past mistakes,” and reaffirmed its existing position that “the fundamental solution to prevent tensions and the risk of conflict between the North and South is to align the two sides’ positions on the Military Demarcation Line and to establish a communication system for peaceful management as soon as possible.” It is reported that the government is currently holding inter-ministerial consultations on specific countermeasures amid North Korea’s continued mentions of resuming loudspeaker broadcasts toward the South.

Meanwhile, the previous day, Vice Minister Kim inspected the fortification construction site along the southern border with Park Jeong-cheon, an advisor to the Ministry of National Defense. Later that night, he issued a statement declaring, “Our tactical hunting squads are securing new positions, and by October, psychological warfare loudspeakers targeting South Korea will be operational along the entire border.” Notably, in this statement, Vice Minister Kim corrected a reporting error by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), clarifying that the event occurred in the early morning of the 21st, not on the 20th as KCNA had erroneously reported. This is interpreted as an attempt to emphasize that they are engaging in a “response” rather than a “provocation,” particularly since the inspection took place after Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Jin Young-seung ordered a resolute response to North Korean provocations.

Immediately following Deputy Director Kim’s statement, Rep. Kim Byung-ju posted on his Facebook page, “Our soldiers shed blood due to North Korea’s provocation. The United Nations Command also ruled that this constituted a violation of the Armistice Agreement by North Korea.” He added, “Kim Yo-jong is insisting it was a ‘staged event’ with blatant lies while threatening us with loudspeakers,” describing it as “a brazen and shameless case of the pot calling the kettle black.”