Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, issued a public statement on Monday accusing South Korea of firing warning shots and broadcasting warning messages on numerous occasions since August. The statement came as online speculation continued about her brother's health.
The regime has threatened to position additional weaponry along its frontier with South Korea. The accusations follow claims by North Korea that the South's actions were justified by allegations that troops from her nation had breached the border.
Rumours of a brain haemorrhage remain unverified
The statement emerged amid online rumours suggesting Kim Jong Un had suffered a brain haemorrhage and died. Wanjun Xie, chairman of the China Democracy Party, alleged that the North Korean leader had passed away and that Kim Yo Jong had assumed power. The claim remains unverified.
Pyongyang weighs more tactical strike means
"A grave situation is prevailing along the southern border due to the reckless behaviour of the ROK military gangsters," Kim Yo Jong stated, using South Korea's official designation, the Republic of Korea.
She said the military was weighing up "deploying more tactical strike means along the southern border". She indicated this would serve as a "preemptive and suppressive measure to deal with contingency, and of resuming the loudspeaker broadcasting against the ROK."
Border tensions and the September 21 blasts
Border tensions have escalated in recent years as North Korea has installed mines, barbed wire fencing, anti-tank obstacles and other front-line defences in line with its strategy of severing connections with the South.
This month, South Korea accused North Korea of planting mines that caused explosions at the border on September 21. It called on the North to apologise and remove additional mines, but North Korea rejected responsibility for the blasts and warned of retaliation if provoked.
Fifty border crossings and loudspeaker broadcasts
South Korea's military has stated that North Korean troops breached the border's military demarcation line 50 times this year while carrying out fortification work. The country responded by discharging warning shots and broadcasting warning announcements.
Loudspeaker broadcasts are a psychological warfare tactic employed during the Cold War era, used by both North and South during periods of tension. South Korea's liberal administration, which assumed power last year, suspended such broadcasts as part of initiatives to improve relations with the North, and North Korea subsequently ceased its own broadcasts.
