Kim Yo-jong said Pyongyang was weighing a return to propaganda broadcasts and additional tactical strike assets near the border, prompting South Korea's military chief to order troops to answer further provocations.
Gen. Jin Yong-sung, chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), gave the order during a visit to a front-line unit Tuesday, the JCS said. He directed troops to respond if North Korea launches further provocations using South Korea's military measures as a pretext. The JCS rejected Pyongyang's description of those measures as provocations.
Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, called the border situation "very unstable." She said North Korea was considering additional tactical strike assets near the frontier and a return to propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts aimed at South Korea. Kim claimed South Korean warning shots and broadcasts appeared intended to obstruct North Korean border fortifications.
Jin blamed North Korean mines for a Sept. 21 explosion that injured three South Korean troops and called the blast an armistice violation.
Jin also ordered troops to respond to armistice violations, including crossings of the Military Demarcation Line. In the surrounding Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), he directed operations to reinforce what the JCS called South Korea's "initiative."
