Cycle of Korean confrontation

By Tong Kim

North Korea's strategic offensive against the South is back in full swing, cutting off ties and threatening to take military retaliation because of the scattering of leaflets by two defector groups in the South, for "insulting and defaming the absolute prestige and the great dignity" of its leader Kim Jong-un.

A week of strong statements by various North Korean officials and clamorous angry rallies to protest the leaflet dissemination culminated in an ultimatum issued June 13 by Kim Yo-jong, first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party and sister of Kim Jong-un. She is now acting as the second most powerful person in the Kim dynasty.

Her warning: "It is high time to surely break with the South. By exercising my power authorized by the Supreme Leader, I gave an instruction to the arms of the department in charge of the affairs with the enemy to decisively carry out the next action … a tragic scene of the useless North-South Joint Liaison Office completely collapsed would be seen … the right to taking the next action against the enemy will be entrusted to the General Staff of our army."

It is not clear what sort of military action Pyongyang will launch, but it is clear that they have launched an all-out psychological offensive against the South, effectively turning the state of inter-Korean relations back into a vicious cycle of confrontation. Pyongyang warns Seoul to stay out of the nuclear issue and U.S.-North Korea relations.

There are indications that the North is going through tough economic hardship, getting worse amid COVID-19, and suffering from the biting impact of sanctions imposed for its nuclear missile development program. For the North, confrontation with the South may serve a dual goal: distraction from internal problems and solidarity of the people in support of the leadership.

On June 4, Kim Yo-jong fired the first shot at the South with the warning that the North would take phased actions, including "complete withdrawal from the Gaeseong Industrial Park, the shutdown of the North-South joint liaison office, and the scrapping of the North-South military agreement."

On June 5, a spokesman of the United Front Department announced that Kim Yo-jong, as the person who was "looking after the affairs of the South", gave instructions "to start examining the technical implementation of the content mentioned in her earlier statement."

On June 9, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim Yo-jong and Kim Yong-chol, vice chairman of the Party Central Committee, decided to regard the South as "the enemy," and "to completely cut off all the communication and liaison lines between the North and the South."

On June 12, on the second anniversary of the first North Korea-U.S. summit, Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon, complaining about no progress in improvement of relations with Washington, declared, "Never again will we provide the U.S. chief executive with another package to be used for (his) achievements without receiving any returns."

He underscored that the Seventh Central Military Commission in May "discussed the national strategy for nuclear development in conformity with the prevailing internal and external situation and on further bolstering the national nuclear war deterrent to cope with the U.S. unabated threats of nuclear war."

Also on June 12, Jang Kum-chol, director of the United Front Department of the Central Committee, said, "From now, time will be, indeed, regretful and painful for the South Korean authorities." He showed no confidence in the ability or willingness of the South Korean government to stop the spreading of leaflets.

The North gets angry about leaflets that carry a direct attack on its leader ― calling him a "nuclear maniac" or a "hypocrite." Some relevant statements include: "We will never barter the dignity of our supreme leadership for anything, but defend it at the cost of our lives." In Kim Yo Jong's words, the issue is related to "the absolute prestige of our Supreme Leader representing our country and its great dignity."

The North seems to be frustrated with the few material gains from improving relations with Seoul. Pyongyang has said it's fed up with Seoul's "lip service" that cannot deliver without U.S. approval. Even without the leaflet incident, it seemed to have given up the idea of inter-Korean cooperation.

South Korea is a sovereign democracy that allows for freedom of expression, and the government cannot do anything without the proper legal basis. Any leaflet dissemination aimed at bringing down the regime in the North may do more harm than good for the preservation of peace. Perhaps, the safety of human life should prevail over the freedom of expression in the current security environment on the Korean peninsula.

Tong Kim (tong.kim8@yahoo.com) is a visiting professor with the University of North Korean Studies, a visiting scholar with Korea University, a fellow at the Institute of Corean-American Studies, and a columnist for The Korea Times.

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