You can always count on the Kim regime to making something up to justify provocations on their part. Here is the most absurd justification they have given yet:
North Korea suggested Friday its COVID-19 outbreak began in people who had contact with balloons flown from South Korea — a highly questionable claim that appeared to be an attempt to hold its rival responsible amid increasing tensions over its nuclear program.
Activists for years have flown balloons across the border to distribute hundreds of thousands of propaganda leaflets critical of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and North Korea has often expressed fury at the activists and at South Korea’s leadership for not stopping them.
Associated Press
You can read more at the link, but there is a domestic aspect to this as well that the Kim regime wants North Koreans to think the propaganda balloons, U.S. dollars, smuggled K-drama DVDs, etc. are all infected with COVID-19 to keep their citizens away from them.
An Inter-Korean agreement from 2009 stated that the North Koreans are supposed to notify the South when they release flood waters from their dam so they can warn residents along the Imjim River. Here is yet another agreement the Kim regime has decided to not abide by:
North Korea appears to have released water from a dam near the inter-Korean border, while remaining unresponsive to Seoul’s request for prior notice, a South Korean government official Thursday.
“It is presumed that North Korea has recently opened the floodgates of Hwanggang Dam,” the unification ministry official told reporters amid reports that the impoverished North is suffering torrential rains in many parts of the country.
It is regrettable that the North did not give any prior notice before releasing dam water near the inter-Korean border despite Seoul’s request for such notice, the official added.
Earlier in the day, an informed military source said the reclusive neighbor appears to have discharged dam water, while authorities here have been on high alert. The North has discharged dam water without notifying the South in advance in the past, endangering the safety of local residents.
The source, however, added the water levels of the Imjin River are currently stable, staying below 3 meters.
It usually takes four to five hours for water released from the dam located at the upper part of the Imjin River to reach the Gunnam Dam in the South’s border town of Yeoncheon, 62 kilometers north of Seoul. The distance between the two dams is around 56 kilometers.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
I am not sure how much more sternly the ROK can respond to North Korean provocations, but I guess we will soon find out:
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo vowed a stern response to any North Korean provocation, Saturday, as the nation observed the 72nd anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War.
Korea Times
In a speech during a ceremony marking the anniversary, he said the North’s recent missile launches and nuclear weapon test preparations have escalated tensions beyond the Korean Peninsula and are posing a threat to international peace.
You can read more at the link.
Here is one view on why North Korea hasn’t conducted their long predicted nuclear test:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has yet to press the nuclear button, despite urgent warnings from South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities that the North has completed preparations for another nuclear test.
Korea Times
Diplomatic observers agree that a nuclear test is still imminent. But they believe the delay may be due to pressure from China or because Pyongyang is weighing the possible political repercussions.
Citing comments made by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Eighth Workers’ Party Conference in January 2021 that his country will enhance its nuclear and missile capabilities, as well as the 31 missiles launched so far this year and the reconstruction of its nuclear test site, Joseph DeTrani, a former U.S. special envoy for negotiations with North Korea, said the reclusive country is prepared for a seventh nuclear test.
However, DeTrani said pressure from China may be behind the delayed nuclear test, because increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula with South Korea and the United States is not in the best interests of Beijing.
You can read more at the link, but it is believed that Emperor President Xi has too much on his plate right now to deal with increased tensions on the Korean peninsula if a nuclear test was to happen.
Here is an interesting update to the ROK fishery official that was murdered by North Korean soldiers when they found him floating in the Yellow Sea two years ago:
The chief of the Korea Coast Guard apologized Wednesday for “causing misunderstanding,” days after the organization overturned its previous announcement that a fisheries official killed by North Korea in 2020 was attempting to defect to the North.
Last week, the Coast Guard and the defense ministry announced they have not found any circumstances backing the probe results from two years ago, reversing from their previous stance and apologizing to the bereaved family.
The 47-year-old official was fatally shot by the North’s military on Sept. 22, 2020, near the inter-Korean sea border in the Yellow Sea, after going missing the previous day while on duty on board a fishery inspection boat. The Coast Guard and the defense ministry announced at the time he could have been attempting to defect to the North. (……….)
On Wednesday, the family of the late fisheries official lodged criminal complaints against three of former President Moon Jae-in’s secretaries, including former National Security Advisor Suh Hoon, to hold them accountable for their beloved’s death. The family accused the then Moon administration of doing “nothing” to save him.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
