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After Blowing Up De Facto Embassy, North Korea Continues Provocations

William Gallo

   SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - A day after blowing up the de facto inter-Korean
   embassy, North Korea continued to ratchet up military pressure on the
   South, announcing the re-deployment of its forces near the border and
   angrily rejecting Seoul's offer to send envoys to reduce tensions.

   As of Wednesday, North Korea's military will reenter the area near the
   Mt. Kumgang resort area and the Kaesong industrial complex, according
   to a spokesperson for the Korean People's Army in the state-run Korean
   Central News Agency (KCNA).

   In addition, guard posts that had previously been abandoned "will be
   set up again to strengthen the guard over the front line," and North
   Korea will also resume "all kinds of regular military exercises" in the
   area near the country's sea border with South Korea, KCNA reported.

   Combined with its moves over the past week, North Korea has now
   reversed many of the achievements made during a series of historic 2018
   meetings between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean
   President Moon Jae-in.

   On Tuesday, North Korea used controlled explosives to demolish the
   inter-Korean liaison center just north of the border. Last week,
   Pyongyang said it would cut off all official channels of dialogue with
   Seoul.

   North Korea is ostensibly angry at the South for not doing more to stop
   defectors and other activists from floating anti-Pyongyang leaflets and
   other materials across the border.But in reality, theNorth's anger
   appears to be a staged provocation cycle, possibly meant to unify
   domestic public opinion and force concessions from South Korea and the
   United States.

   In an unsigned KCNA commentary Wednesday, North Korea described the
   liaison office destruction as a "first stage step," saying further
   action will depend on South Korea's response.

   But in a corresponding statement, senior North Korean leaderKimYo
   Jongrejected South Korea's offer to send envoys. Kim called the offer
   "unrealistic," "tactless," "absurd," "sinister," "a petty farce,"
   "reckless," "preposterous," and "disrespectful."

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