A South Korean Marine patrols the beach of Yeonpyeong Island bordering North Korea in the West Sea, Wednesday. / Yonhap

S. Korean government lodges strong protest

By Kang Seung-woo

Following through on its previously made threats, North Korea is now inching toward nullifying an inter-Korean military agreement, which may lead to tension-stoking incidents.

After its unilateral demolition of the inter-Korean liaison office in the border city of Gaeseong, Tuesday, the reclusive state announced Wednesday that its military would enter the Mount Geumgang tourist area and Gaeseong Industrial Complex, and rebuild sentry posts along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The North also said its military will resume exercises in border areas, including seas off its southwest coast.

If carried out, any of these would abrogate the military agreement signed during a 2018 inter-Korean summit to reduce tensions along the heavily fortified border. The agreement bans all hostile acts in this region.

Since Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and probably the second-most powerful person in the North, threatened to close the now-defunct liaison office and scrap the military agreement June 4, she has kept her word, raising concerns that envisaged military actions are in the offing that will ratchet up tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

"The North Korean regime has displayed a carefully calibrated strategy and made its next steps clear," said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University.

"Unlike redeploying troops to the two inter-Korean business zones and rebuilding guard posts, military exercises near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) could pose a serious problem."

The NLL is the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas, where inter-Korean clashes have taken place over the years.

The North initiated the offensive, citing anti-Pyongyang leaflets floated across the border by North Korean defectors and activists, but many experts believe this is a short-term game plan and the ultimate goal is to attract the attention of the United States. Washington has had little to do with the North since the collapse of the Hanoi summit in February 2019, at which its "Supreme Leader" expected to secure relief from international economic sanctions led by the U.S.