By Franz-Stefan Gady
Kim Jong-un has rejected an apology from Seoul and ordered his army onto war footing.
Today, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un announced a “quasi-state of war” after convening an emergency meeting of the country’s powerful Central Military Commission, ordering his army to be ready for military operations beginning at 5 pm local time today.
“Kim Jong-un issued an order of the supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) that the front-line large combined units of the KPA should enter a wartime state to be fully battle ready to launch surprise operations,” according to Korea Central News Agency.
Pyongyang also issued an ultimatum to Seoul to remove propaganda loudspeakers that South Korea has installed in the demilitarized zone (DMZ), broadcasting outside news to North Koreans but also criticizing Kim Jong-un, by 5 pm local time tomorrow.
“There is a possibility of North Korea launching provocations of a certain kind after 5 pm tomorrow,” South Korean defense minister,Han Min-koo, stated today.
North and South had reached an agreement to dismantle loudspeakers along the border in 2004, but after an incident on August 4, in which two South Korean soldiers were severely injured in a landmine explosion for which the North has been held responsible, the broadcasts resumed after an 11-year hiatus. The incident was the first major military provocation involving South Korean casualties since Kim Jong-un took power in 2011. According to the South Korean vice defense minister, Pyongyang is likely to fire at some of the 11 sites where South Korea has installed loudspeakers on its side of the demilitarized zone.
Read the full story at The Diplomat