Tension in the Koreas as North Korea threatens South Korea

By Lawal Shereef

Military says will enter 2018 demilitarized border areas

Tensions have flared among the two countries in recent weeks

North Korea's army will re-enter border areas demilitarised under a peace pact with South Korea if defector groups there continue with their campaign to send propaganda leaflets across the border, state media said on Tuesday.

The General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA) said it has been studying an "action plan" to re-enter zones that had been demilitarised under a 2018 inter-Korean pact and "turn the front line into a fortress."

"Our army will rapidly and thoroughly implement any decisions and orders of the Party and government," the KPA said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

Tensions have risen over the leaflets, which are usually sent across the border by balloon and carry messages critical of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with Pyongyang threatening to sever inter-Korean ties and take retaliatory measures.

Inter-Korean relations have been strained since the breakdown of a second summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Vietnam in early 2019. That summit fell apart because of disputes over how much sanctions should be lifted in return for Kim's dismantling his main nuclear complex.

Kim later vowed to expand his nuclear arsenal, introduce a new strategic weapon, and overcome the US-led sanctions that he said "stifles" his country's economy.

Source: news outlets

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