North Korea has accused South Korea of sending drones to its capital Pyongyang to drop leaflets critical of leader Kim Jong-un. We look at the reasons behind the North's reaction, preparing artillery units to open fire on the border and blow up the roads connecting the two countries.
What happened?
North Korea has threatened a military strike against South Korea after it said the South used drones to drop leaflets critical of the regime in Pyongyang. South Korean drones carrying propaganda materials have been detected at night in the capital three times this month, the North's foreign ministry said.
The state-run KCNA news agency said the leaflets were filled with “inflammatory rumors and rubbish”, while the Foreign Ministry said the violation of Pyongyang's airspace “could be considered a military attack”.
It was not clear what kind of drones were used by South Korean or North Korean activists. South Korea's defense minister initially denied Pyongyang's claims, but the Joint Chiefs of Staff later said in a statement that it “cannot confirm whether the North Korean allegations are true or not.” The only image of one of the drones broadcast on North Korean state television over the weekend showed a winged white object against a dark sky.
Has this happened before?
It is the first time North Korea has accused North Korea of using drones to drop leaflets critical of its leader, Kim Jong-un, but activists in the South, some of them defectors from the secretive state, have used balloons. Same purpose. That prompted a response from the North, which in recent months has flown thousands of balloons carrying bags filled with garbage – and excrement – across the country's heavily armed border with the South.
South Korea has accused North Korea of flying drones over its airspace over the past few years. In December 2022, the South chased the jets after five North Korean drones were spotted over Seoul. Its army fired warning shots from helicopters but failed to bring down any drones. The incident prompted South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol to rapidly develop drones capable of spying on North Korean military facilities. Kim Jong-un has shown a personal interest in drone development, pledging to oversee the production of sophisticated long-range machines by 2021.
Is it an increase?
The drone claims have sparked angry exchanges between North and South Korea. This is not unusual, but the sequence reflects a sharp decline in Korean relations in recent months. North Korea has said its frontline military units are ready to strike targets in the South if the drones are spotted. In a statement carried by state media on Sunday, the north's defense ministry said it had ordered military units near the border – a demilitarized zone – to “fully prepare to open fire”. That order came as Kim's influential sister. Kim Yo-jong has described the South's defense ministry's warning that any attack on Korean civilians would mean the end of the North Korean regime as “suicidal”. Kim Yo-jong said the discovery of any additional drones would “definitely lead to a terrible disaster” for the South. Amid rising tensions, South Korea said on Monday it had detected signs that North Korea was preparing to blow up northern sections of the no-longer-used inter-Korean road.
Why was the North so angry?
Much of the regime's legitimacy rests on its exclusively positive narrative surrounding the Kim dynasty, which has ruled the country since its founding in 1948. As a result, the regime is highly sensitive to outside efforts to challenge the cult of personality surrounding Kim Jong-un. An and, before him, his father and grandfather. The alleged use of drone technology by its neighbors and, since earlier this year, the “main enemy,” has led the regime in Pyongyang to engage in fiery rhetoric against the South and the United States — a ploy. improving its standing among North Koreans. After the latest incident, a North Korean military spokesman warned that any retaliatory attack by North Korea would turn South Korea into a “pile of ashes.” Observers believe North Korea will try to remind both candidates next month of the US presidential election's potential to stoke fear and instability in the region.
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