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Yonhap via AP Army soldiers collect the trash from a balloon presumably sent by North Korea, in Incheon, South Korea, on Wednesday.
By Kazusa Yoda / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent
1:05 JST, July 25, 2024
SEOUL — South Korean National Defense Minister Shin Wonsik indicated in a Monday interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun that his country will conduct thorough counterattacks against any armed provocation by North Korea against South Korea.
He said Seoul is keeping a close watch on Pyongyang’s moves, as it could shell his country in the future.
Shin symbolizes the “peace through strength” policy of the conservative administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol. After taking office in October last year, Shin instructed all military forces to carry out counterattacks “immediately, strongly and until the end,” if North Korea engages in an armed provocation. He also said in Monday’s interview, “If the enemy provokes us, we will retaliate decisively, aggressively and thoroughly.”
The South Korean military on Sunday began broadcasting propaganda over loudspeakers throughout the North-South Military Demarcation Line, criticizing the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. This is a countermeasure to the large number of balloons carrying trash that North Korea has been sending toward South Korea since late May.
According to Shin, the greatest fear of the Kim Jong Un government is that “North Korean residents hear [through the broadcasts] about the reality of South Korea, which is freer and happier than North Korea.”
Successive South Korean administrations have shown their reluctance to use propaganda broadcasts fearing they could be too provocative to North Korea. Shin emphasized that the government intends to continue the practice, saying, “It’s an effective measure to deter North Korea, but it had been abandoned too quickly [by successive administrations].”
Pyongyang is nervous about North Korean defectors in South Korea flying balloons with leaflets criticizing the Kim government. Shin said that North Korea may shoot down the balloons directly or “may shoot or shell the bases where the balloons are flown from.” On July 16, Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, hinted at the possibility of North Korea engaging in new provocations.
Shin said that a “false peace relying on the goodwill of the enemy” could lead to “posing an even greater threat to South Korea’s security.” His comments are believed to have been made with the North Korea policy of former South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s leftist administration in mind.
Shin asserted that Kim Jong Un’s stated denuclearization intention, which he expressed at the inter-Korean summit with Moon, was “bluffing.”
“As in the past, it was a strategic deception to gain practical benefits, such as easing sanctions, overcoming international isolation and guarantees to maintain the regime.” Shin said. He predicted that North Korea “will not take denuclearization measures on its own even in the future.”
