Seoul:

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un slammed Seoul Monday for recent military drills near the border, saying the South must be “suicidal” and warning of a “terrible disaster”.

After Pyongyang sent multiple barrages of trash-carrying balloons across the border, Seoul last month fully suspended a tension-reducing military deal and resumed live-fire drills on border islands and by the demilitarised zone that divides the Korean Peninsula.

Kim Yo Jong, who is a key regime spokesperson, said this was “an undisguised war game (and) an inexcusable and explicit provocation that aggravates the situation,” according to a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

South Korea’s border drills were “suicidal hysteria, for which they will have to sustain terrible disaster,” she added.

Kim Yo Jong said it was “clear to everyone… the riskiness of the above-said reckless live ammunition firing drills of the ROK army coming nearer to the border of the DPRK,” referring to the South by its official name, the Republic of Korea.

If Seoul’s exercises breach the North’s sovereignty, Kim Yo Jong warned: “our armed forces will immediately carry out its mission,” without giving further details.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with Pyongyang ramping up weapons testing as it draws ever closer to Russia.

Seoul and Washington have accused Pyongyang of supplying arms to Moscow for use in the war in Ukraine — which would violate rafts of sanctions on both countries.

Earlier this year, the nuclear-armed North declared Seoul its chief enemy, and has jettisoned agencies designed for outreach and diplomacy with Seoul, while ramping up security along the shared border.

North Korean soldiers have crossed the border three times in recent weeks, likely accidentally Seoul’s military says, while they were working to lay mines, clear foliage and build likely anti-tank barriers.

Kim Yo Jong also criticised recent trilateral drills between the United States, South Korea and Japan, saying they were “the height of confrontational hysteria”.

“The war drumbeats clearly showed that the US and other hostile forces’ rash manoeuvres for military hegemony in the region have crossed the red line,” she added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A robot employed by the Gumi City Council in South Korea went defunct after falling down a flight of stairs. While some have sensationalised the event as ‘robot suicide’, experts believe it is more likely a technical malfunction or glitch. The robot was a part of the city hall staff and had been working “diligently” since August 2023, said one of its coworkers. It helped with daily tasks such as document deliveries, providing information to residents and city promotion. 

Before the fall, eyewitnesses reported unusual behaviour, with the robot circling in one spot seemingly confused “as if something was there.” The incident occurred on June 27 at approximately 4 pm, with the ‘Robot supervisor’ found damaged and lying in the stairwell between the first and second floors of the council building.

The cause of the fall remains under investigation. Officials believe it may have been due to a navigational error, sensor failure or programming bug. A city council official mentioned that the robot’s “pieces have been collected and will be analysed by the company.”

The robot was the first of its kind to have such a role in the city. Developed by Bear Robotics, a California-based startup, it was designed to work autonomously, navigating between floors using the elevator. Unlike other robots, which are typically limited to a single floor, this robot had the ability to move freely, making it a unique asset to the Gumi City Council. The robot worked from 9 am to 6 pm and was even given its own civil service officer card, just like a human employee. 

The manufacturer, Bear Robotics, is working with the council to investigate and prevent similar incidents in the future.  

South Korea has consistently demonstrated a strong affinity for robotics, spearheading the global adoption of automation technology. With a remarkable ratio of one industrial robot for every 10 employees, the country boasts the highest robot density in the world, as per reports.

However, in the wake of the recent robot incident at the Gumi City Council, the municipality has decided to temporarily halt its plans to introduce a second robot officer.  

Seoul:

Laughing and joking, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un cruised around Pyongyang last week in a Russian-made Aurus limousine to showcase their strengthened anti-Western alliance.

The luxury sedan was intended to epitomize Russia’s domestic prowess and reduced dependence on imported technology and goods when unveiled in 2018.

But customs records show that the company that builds it uses millions of dollars in imported parts, many arriving in Russia from what Kim has described as his country’s “primary foe”, South Korea.

The imports point to Russia’s ongoing reliance on Western technology as it seeks to navigate Western attempts to cut it off from global supply chains as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine.

The two leaders took turns driving the armoured limousine during Putin’s pomp-filled visit, his first in nearly a quarter of a century to North Korea, in a demonstration of the two nuclear powers’ increasingly close ties.

Russia imported equipment and components worth at least $34 million between 2018 and 2023 for assembling Aurus cars and motorcycles, customs records seen by Reuters showed. Reuters does not have access to more recent data.

The imports included car body parts, sensors, programmable controllers, switches, welding equipment and other components worth almost $15.5 million imported from South Korea. Parts were also imported from China, India, Turkey, Italy and other EU countries.

Foreign supplies for Aurus kept coming after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with goods worth almost $16 million, including $5 million produced in South Korea, imported since February 2022, the records showed.

Reuters could not determine specifically which imported foreign parts ended up in the car gifted to Kim, and the imports were not in breach of sanctions – Aurus LLC was sanctioned by the United States in February, 2024.

The Aurus sedan was developed by Russian state-owned research institute NAMI in partnership with Russian carmaker Sollers, which has since sold its stake.

Aurus Motors and its CEO Andrey Pankov did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the use of foreign parts, including from South Korea, in its vehicles.

GROWING PRODUCTION

The company launched official production in Russia’s Tatarstan region, around 1,000 km (620 miles) from Moscow, in 2021 – before then it was made on a small, experimental scale at NAMI. It will start additional production in St Petersburg later this year at Toyota’s former factory.

Toyota is one of many foreign carmakers to exit the Russian market since the invasion, which Russia calls a “special military operation”.

The exodus has left a gap that Chinese producers have been quick to fill, rapidly seizing more than half the market share and exposing Russia’s limited domestic production capacity.

South Korean firms were among the largest suppliers to Aurus, including industrial equipment producer Kyungki Industrial Co, car body parts manufacturer BYT CO LTD and batteries supplier Enertech International Inc.

Italian plastic parts producer Industrie Ilpea Spa and Hong Kong company Rain Electronics also supplied goods.

Kyungki Industrial Co said in a statement to Reuters on Monday that it had not signed any contract with Aurus or Russian suppliers since 2021 or participated in any further projects in Russia since 2022. It also said that it would be concerned about any potential sanctions.

A company representative had earlier told Reuters the company continued to supply Aurus and was not concerned about potential sanctions. The representative later referred Reuters to Monday’s statement.

Rain Electronics could not be reached for comment. When a Reuters correspondent visited the address listed on the internet as the company’s office in Hong Kong, there was no trace of Rain Electronics on the floor listed online or in the office building.

BYT CO LTD, Enertech International and Industrie Ilpea Spa did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The Aurus Senat, retro-styled after the Soviet-era ZIL limousine, is Russia’s official presidential car and was used by Putin at his presidential inaugurations in 2018 and 2024.

Putin has now given Kim, believed to be a keen automobile fan, two Aurus cars, first during Kim’s visit to Russia in February, and a slightly different model in North Korea in June.

Prices for Aurus cars – there are four models including an SUV and armoured version – start from 46.625 million roubles ($528,356). Customers include Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdymukhamedov.

Aurus sold 107 cars in Russia in 2023, according to data from Russian analytical agency Autostat. Aurus does not disclose production numbers.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

North Korea launched a ballistic missile off its east coast on Monday, South Korea’s military said, a day after the North vowed to take “offensive and overwhelming countermeasures” in response to a new U.S. military drill with South Korea and Japan.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launch was made on Monday morning, but gave no further details, including how far the weapon traveled.

The launch came two days after South Korea, the U.S. and Japan ended their new multidomain trilateral drills. The “Freedom Edge” drill drew a U.S. aircraft carrier and destroyers, fighter jets and helicopters from the three countries, and the three countries practiced missile defense, anti-submarine and maritime interdiction drills.

On Sunday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a lengthy statement strongly denouncing the U.S., South Korea and Japan over their three-way drill. It called the drill an Asian version of NATO that revealed a U.S. intention to escalate regional military tensions, exert pressure on Russia and lay siege to China.

The North’s Foreign Ministry said it will “firmly defend the sovereignty, security and interests of the state and peace in the region through offensive and overwhelming countermeasures.”

Monday’s launch was the North’s first weapons firing in five days. Last Wednesday, North Korea launched what it called a multiwarhead missile in the first known launch of a developmental, advanced weapon meant to defeat U.S. and South Korean missile defenses. North Korea said the launch was successful, but South Korea dismissed the North’s claim as deception to cover up a failed launch.

In recent weeks, North Korea has floated numerous trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea in what it has described as a tit-for-tat response to South Korean activists sending political leaflets via their own balloons.

Seoul:

North Korea on Monday launched two ballistic missiles, South Korea’s military confirmed — the latest in a series of weapons tests by Pyongyang that have soured relations with Seoul.

A short-range ballistic missile was launched in the early morning hours, the South’s military Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. About 10 minutes later, a second missile, this one as yet unidentified, was detected, it added.

“Our military has strengthened surveillance and vigilance in preparation for further launches,” the JCS said, adding it had shared information about the incidents with the United States and Japan. 

The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) did not offer immediate confirmation of the launches.

Last week, North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a multiple warhead missile, but the South said that launch ended in a mid-air explosion.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with the North ramping up weapons testing while bombarding the South with balloons full of trash.

Pyongyang says those missives are in retaliation for balloons loaded with anti-regime propaganda leaflets sent northwards by activists in the South.

In response to the North’s repeated launches, South Korea has fully suspended a tension-reducing military treaty. It also resumed propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts and live-fire drills near the border.

South Korea also has grown anxious over the North’s warming relations with its isolated neighbour Russia.

North Korea is accused of breaching arms control measures by supplying weapons to Russia to use in its war in Ukraine, and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit with leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang in June in a show of unity.

On Sunday, Pyongyang condemned joint military drills by South Korea, Japan and the United States, calling them an “Asian version of NATO” and warning of “fatal consequences”.

The three-day “Freedom Edge” exercises included preparation in ballistic missile and air defences, anti-submarine warfare and defensive cyber training.

Pyongyang has always decried similar combined exercises as rehearsals for an invasion, but Seoul said Sunday the latest exercises were a continuation of defensive drills held regularly for years.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Russian Ambassador to South Korea Georgy Zinoviev arrives at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, June 21, 2024. South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador to protest a defense pact with North Korea on Friday, two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement vowing mutual defense with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on a state visit to Pyongyang.
| Photo Credit: AP

South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador to protest a defense pact with North Korea on June 21, two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement vowing mutual defense with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on a state visit to Pyongyang.

Earlier Friday, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a vague threat of retaliation after South Korean activists flew balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border, and South Korea’s military said it had fired warning shots the previous day to repel North Korean soldiers who briefly crossed the rivals’ land border for the third time this month.

That came two days after Moscow and Pyongyang reached a pact vowing mutual defense assistance if either is attacked, and a day after Seoul responded by saying it would consider providing arms to Ukraine to fight Russia’s invasion.

South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong Kyun summoned Russian Ambassador Georgy Zinoviev to convey Seoul’s stance on the deal between Putin and Kim and on alleged military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. Seoul’s Foreign Ministry didn’t immediately confirm what was said during the meeting.

Leafletting campaigns by South Korean civilian activists in recent weeks have prompted a resumption of Cold War-style psychological warfare along the inter-Korean border.

The South Korean civilian activists, led by North Korean defector Park Sang-hak, said it sent 20 balloons carrying 300,000 propaganda leaflets, 5,000 USB sticks with South Korean pop songs and TV dramas, and 3,000 U.S. dollar bills from the South Korean border town of Paju on Thursday night.

Pyongyang resents such material and fears it could demoralize front-line troops and residents and eventually weaken Kim Jong Un’s grip on power, analysts say.

In a statement carried by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo Jong, one of her brother’s top foreign policy officials, called the activists “defector scum” and issued what appeared to be a threat of retaliation.

“When you do something you were clearly warned not to do, it’s only natural that you will find yourself dealing with something you didn’t have to,” she said, without specifying what the North would do.

After previous leafletting by South Korean activists, North Korea launched more than 1,000 balloons that dropped tons of trash in South Korea, smashing roof tiles and windows and causing other property damage. Kim Yo Jong previously hinted that balloons could become the North’s standard response to leafletting, saying that the North would respond by “scattering dozens of times more rubbish than is being scattered on us.”

In response, South Korea resumed anti-North Korea propaganda broadcasts with military loudspeakers installed at the border for the first time in years, to which Kim Yo Jong, in another state media statement, warned that Seoul was “creating a prelude to a very dangerous situation.”

Tensions between the Koreas are at their highest in years as Kim Jong Un accelerates his nuclear weapons and missile development and attempts to strengthen his regional footing by aligning with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a standoff against the U.S.-led West.

South Korea, a growing arms exporter with a well-equipped military backed by the United States, says it is considering upping support for Ukraine in response. Seoul has already provided humanitarian aid and other support while joining U.S.-led economic sanctions against Moscow. But it has not directly provided arms, citing a long-standing policy of not supplying weapons to countries actively engaged in conflict.

Putin told reporters in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Thursday that supplying weapons to Ukraine would be “a very big mistake,” and said South Korea “shouldn’t worry” about the agreement if it isn’t planning aggression against Pyongyang.

North Korea is extremely sensitive to criticism of Kim’s authoritarian rule and efforts to reach its people with foreign news and other media.

In 2015, when South Korea restarted loudspeaker broadcasts for the first time in 11 years, North Korea fired artillery rounds across the border, prompting South Korea to return fire, according to South Korean officials. No casualties were reported.

South Korea’s military said there are signs that North Korea was installing its own speakers at the border, although they weren’t yet working.

In the latest border incident, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said several North Korean soldiers engaged in unspecified construction work briefly crossed the military demarcation line that divides the two countries at around 11 a.m. Thursday.

The South Korean military broadcast a warning and fired warning shots, after which the North Korean soldiers retreated. The joint chiefs didn’t immediately release more details, including why it was releasing the information a day late.

South Korea’s military says believes recent border intrusions were not intentional, as the North Korean soldiers have not returned fire and retreated after the warning shots.

The South’s military has observed the North deploying large numbers of soldiers in frontline areas to build suspected anti-tank barriers, reinforce roads and plant mines in an apparent attempt to fortify their side of the border. Seoul believes the efforts are likely aimed at preventing North Korean civilians and soldiers from escaping to the South.

A TV screen shows an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin during a news program, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on June 19, 2024. North Korean leader Kim promised full support for Russia’s war in Ukraine before beginning a one-on-one meeting with Russian President Putin in Pyongyang on Wednesday, in a bid to expand their economic and military cooperation and show a united front against Washington.
| Photo Credit: AP

South Korea said on June 20 that it would consider sending arms to Ukraine, a major policy change suggested after Russia and North Korea rattled the region and beyond by signing a pact to come to each other’s defense in the event of war.

The comments from a senior presidential official came hours after North Korea’s state media released the details of the agreement, which observers said could mark the strongest connection between Moscow and Pyongyang since the end of the Cold War. It comes at a time when Russia faces growing isolation over its war in Ukraine and both countries face escalating standoffs with the West.

According to the text of the deal published by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, if either country gets invaded and is pushed into a state of war, the other must deploy “all means at its disposal without delay” to provide “military and other assistance.” But the agreement also says that such actions must be in accordance with the laws of both countries and Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which recognizes a U.N. member state’s right to self-defense.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the pact at a summit on June 19 in Pyongyang. Both described it as a major upgrade of bilateral relations, covering security, trade, investment, cultural and humanitarian ties.

The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a statement condemning the agreement, calling it a threat to the South’s security and a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, and warned that it would have negative consequences on Seoul’s relations with Moscow.

“It’s absurd that two parties with a history of launching wars of invasion — the Korean War and the war in Ukraine — are now vowing mutual military cooperation on the premise of a preemptive attack by the international community that will never happen,” Mr. Yoon’s office said.

Mr. Yoon’s national security adviser, Chang Ho-jin, said Seoul would reconsider the issue of providing arms to Ukraine to help the country fight off Russia’s invasion.

South Korea, a growing arms exporter with a well-equipped military backed by the United States, has provided humanitarian aid and other support to Ukraine while joining U.S.-led economic sanctions against Moscow. But it has not directly provided arms to Kyiv, citing a longstanding policy of not supplying weapons to countries actively engaged in conflict.

The summit between Kim and Putin came as the U.S. and its allies expressed growing concern over a possible arms arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions for its war in Ukraine, in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.

Following their summit, Mr. Kim said the two countries had a “fiery friendship,” and that the deal was their “strongest-ever treaty,” putting the relationship at the level of an alliance. He vowed full support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Mr. Putin called it a “breakthrough document” reflecting shared desires to move relations to a higher level.

North Korea and the former Soviet Union signed a treaty in 1961, which experts say necessitated Moscow’s military intervention if the North came under attack. The deal was discarded after the collapse of the USSR, replaced by one in 2000 that offered weaker security assurances.

There’s ongoing debate on how strong of a security commitment the deal entails. While some analysts see the agreement as a full restoration of the countries’ Cold War-era alliance, others say the deal seems more symbolic than substantial.

Ankit Panda, a senior analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the text appeared to be carefully worded as to not imply automatic military invention.

But “the big picture here is that both sides are willing to put down on paper, and show the world, just how widely they intend to expand the scope of their cooperation,” he said.

The deal was made as Mr. Putin visited North Korea for the first time in 24 years, a trip that showcased their personal and geopolitical ties with Kim hugging Putin twice at the airport, their motorcade rolling past giant Russian flags and Putin portraits, and a welcoming ceremony at Pyongyang’s main square attended by what appeared to be tens of thousands of spectators.

According to KCNA, the agreement also states that Pyongyang and Moscow must not enter into agreements with third parties if they infringe on the “core interests” of any of them and must not participate in actions that threaten those interests.

KCNA said the agreement requires the countries to take steps to prepare joint measures for the purpose of strengthening their defense capabilities to prevent war and protect regional and global peace and security. The agency didn’t specify what those steps are, or whether they would include combined military training and other cooperation.

The agreement also calls for the countries to actively cooperate in efforts to establish a “just and multipolar new world order,” KCNA said, underscoring how the countries are aligning in face of their separate confrontations with the United States.

How the pact affects Russia’s relations with the South is a key development to watch, said Jenny Town, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington and director of the North Korea-focused 38 North website.

“Seoul had already signed onto sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, souring its relations with Moscow. Now with any ambiguity of Russia’s partnership with North Korea removed, how will Seoul respond?” she said. “Is there a point where it decides to cut or suspend diplomatic ties with Russia or expel its ambassador? And have we reached it?”

Mr. Kim in recent months has made Russia his priority as he pushes a foreign policy aimed at expanding relations with countries confronting Washington, embracing the idea of a “new Cold War” and trying to display a united front in Putin’s broader conflicts with the West.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years, with the pace of both Mr. Kim’s weapons tests and combined military exercises involving the U.S., South Korea and Japan intensifying in a tit-for-tat cycle.

The Koreas also have engaged in Cold War-style psychological warfare that involved North Korea dropping tons of trash on the South with balloons, and the South broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda with its loudspeakers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits an exhibition of IT and creative industry at the Labour Quarter creative cluster in Yakutsk, republic of Sakha also known as Yakutia, Russia Far East, Russia, on June 18, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

NATO is concerned about support Russia could provide for North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs, the alliance’s head said on Tuesday as Russian President Vladimir Putin headed to the reclusive nuclear-armed country for the first time in 24 years.

Putin vowed on Tuesday to deepen trade and security ties with North Korea and to support it against the United States.

His state visit comes amid U.S. accusations that North Korea has supplied “dozens of ballistic missiles and over 11,000 containers of munitions to Russia” for use in Ukraine.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a joint press conference after a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Russia’s war in Ukraine was being propped up by China, North Korea and Iran, who all wanted to see the Western alliance fail.

“We are of course also concerned about the potential support that Russia provides to North Korea when it comes to supporting their missile and nuclear programs,” Stoltenberg said.

He said this and China’s support for Russia’s war economy showed how security challenges in Europe were linked to Asia and added that next month’s NATO summit in Washington would see a further strengthening of the alliance’s partnerships with Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan.

Stoltenberg said there needed to be “consequences” at some stage for China.

“They cannot continue to have normal trade relationships with countries in Europe and at the same time fuel the biggest war we have seen in Europe since the Second World War,” he said.

Stoltenberg said it was too early to say what those consequences might be, “but it has to be an issue that we need to address because to continue as we do today is not viable.”

Blinken said Putin’s visit to North Korea was a sign of his “desperation” to strengthen relations with countries that can support his war in Ukraine.

Blinken added that China’s support had enabled Russian to maintain its defense industrial base, supplying 70% of the machine tools Moscow is importing and 90% of the microelectronics. “That has to stop,” he said.

Last week, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Washington was concerned by what Russia would give North Korea in return for the weapons Pyongyang has supplied.

“Hard currency? Is it energy? Is it capabilities that allow them to advance their nuclear or missile products? We don’t know. But we’re concerned by that and watching carefully,” he said.

The top U.S. arms control official, Under Secretary of State Bonnie Jenkins, has said she believes North Korea is keen to acquire fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production equipment or materials, and other advanced technologies from Russia.

This undated handout photo provided on June 18, 2024 by the South Korean Defence Ministry shows North Korean soldiers working at an undisclosed location near the heavily fortified border, as seen from a South Korean guard area.
| Photo Credit: AFP/SOUTH KOREAN DEFENCE MINISTRY

Dozens of North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified border on June 18 but retreated after warning shots were fired, Seoul said, the second such incident in two weeks as Pyongyang reinforces its frontiers with the South.

Landmine explosions near the border also injured multiple North Korean soldiers, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that Pyongyang had recently deployed troops in the area to clear scrub and lay mines, as relations between the two Koreas plummet.

The countries technically remain at war as the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice, and the Demilitarized Zone dividing the peninsula is already one of the most heavily mined places on earth.

But North Korea is moving to reinforce that, laying more landmines, reinforcing tactical roads and adding what appear to be anti-tank barriers, Seoul’s military said.

The JCS said it believed the Tuesday crossing — like a previous one on June 9 — was accidental, with some 20 to 30 North Korean soldiers carrying work tools involved in the incident, which took place around 8:30 am Tuesday (2330 GMT).

“Dozens of North Korean troops crossed the Military Demarcation Line today… (and) retreated northwards after warning shots” were fired, a JCS official said.

North Korean soldiers tasked with reinforcing the border had suffered “multiple casualties from repeated landmine explosion incidents” but they “appear to be recklessly pressing ahead with the operations,” the official said.

“North Korea’s activities seem to be a measure to strengthen internal control, such as blocking North Korean troops and North Koreans from defecting to the South,” the JCS official said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit Pyongyang later Tuesday, sparking concern in Seoul, which has accused the North of shipping arms to Moscow for use in Ukraine in exchange for help with its nascent satellite program.

‘No reconciliation’

“This has rather symbolic significance,” Koh Yu-hwan, North Korean studies emeritus professor at Dongguk University told AFP, saying adding new mines was making it clear Pyongyang did not want dialogue with the South.

“By laying mines, North Korea is demonstrating once again that, as per the instructions of the supreme leader (Kim Jong Un), there will be no reconciliation with the South,” he added.

“North Korea is not laying mines across the entire frontline, but rather in areas that are easily observable by the South. They are also blocking roads and railways that were previously areas of inter-Korean cooperation.”

During a period of warmer ties in 2018, the two Koreas removed landmines along a section of the heavily fortified border in a bid to ease military tensions.

Earlier this month, around 20 North Korean soldiers crossed the military demarcation line between the two countries in a section of the border “overgrown with trees”, according to Seoul’s military, which assessed the incursion to be accidental.

That crossing came as North Korea was sending more than a thousand balloons laden with trash southward — a response, it said, to balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda sent north by activists.

The South Korean government in turn suspended a 2018 tension-reducing military deal and restarted loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border, infuriating the North, which warned Seoul was creating “a new crisis”.

Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP that the North Korean military was trying to survey the border area to install more barriers.

“Engineering and observation units have increased their presence in the area. It is believed that the disorderly actions of those who are unfamiliar with the minefields have led to these mine-related accidents.”

Seoul:

Dozens of North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified border with the South on Tuesday and retreated after warning shots were fired, Seoul’s military said, adding landmine explosions had injured Pyongyang’s troops in the area.

It is the second such incident involving North Korean troops in two weeks, with Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff saying they believed the Tuesday crossing — like a previous one on June 9 — was accidental.

The two Koreas remain technically at war as the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice not a peace treaty, with the demilitarized zone and line of control dividing the peninsula one of the most heavily mined places in the world.

“Dozens of North Korean troops crossed the Military Demarcation Line today… (and) retreated northwards after warning shots” were fired, a JCS official said. 

Seoul’s military also said Tuesday that several North Korean soldiers had been injured when a landmine exploded near the border, without revealing the date.

The North Koreans were working on creating “barren land” and laying mines along the border, an official from the JCS said, but ended up “suffering multiple casualties from repeated landmine explosion incidents during their work”. 

Even so, the North’s military “appear to be recklessly pressing ahead with the operations,” the official said.

This year, North Korea has been working to remove streetlights from roads and dig up railway tracks that connected the two countries when ties were better, they added.

Since April, North Korea has deployed troops along the front line “to create barren land”, the official said, adding the North was also laying more landmines, reinforcing tactical roads, and adding what appeared to be anti-tank barriers.

“North Korea’s activities seem to be a measure to strengthen internal control, such as blocking North Korean troops and North Koreans from defecting to the South,” the JCS official said.

The vast majority of North Koreans who escape the country first go to China before making their way to the South, usually via another country, with only a handful ever managing to cross the DMZ, which is riddled with landmines and has a heavy military presence on both sides.

 June 9 incident 

The incident comes as North Korea prepares to receive Russian President Vladimir Putin for a rare state visit likely to boost defence ties between the two isolated countries.

On June 9, Seoul said that North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the line that separates the two militaries — saying it happened in an overgrown area of the heavily fortified border area and was likely accidental.

About 20 North Korean soldiers crossed the border in that incident, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years.

In recent weeks, North Korea has sent more than a thousand balloons laden with trash including cigarette butts and toilet paper southward — a response, it says, to balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda sent north by activists.

In response, the South Korean government has suspended a 2018 tension-reducing military deal and restarted loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border, infuriating the North, which warned Seoul was creating “a new crisis”.

“The recent increase in the entry of North Korean military into the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) is due to the need for mine clearance and surveying for the installation of barriers,” Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP. 

“Engineering and observation units have increased their presence in the area. It is believed that the disorderly actions of those who are unfamiliar with the minefields have led to these mine-related accidents.” 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)