This article was originally posted on Jayu Press and translated by OKN Correspondent.
It’s blatantly obvious that these North Korean provocations are for the new Yoon Seok-youl administration. They have targeted and attacked him. On March 30, a North Korean state-controlled news website, Uriminzokkiri, mentioned the actual names of former Vice Foreign Minister Kim Sung-han, former Blue House foreign strategy planning director Kim Tae-hyo, and former deputy chief of staff Lee Jong-seop. The state-controlled media used uniquely wild and ignorant expressions, such as “horrible confrontational maniacs” and “malicious antagonists.” The content is a threat, saying, “The inter-Korean relations set by the Yoon Seok-youl administration will return to a strained phase just like during the Lee Myung-bak (MB) administration.”
There are two significant incidents when it comes to the “strained phase of the MB administration period.” First, the shooting of Park Wang-ja, a tourist visiting Mt. Geumgang in August 2008, and the second was the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan in March 2010. Both were provocations from North Korea. Inter-Korean relations are bound to be strained. And these incidents were followed by the ban on tours to Mt. Geumgang and the May 24 measures (sanctions imposed by South Korea against North Korea preventing economic relations with the North). At that time, the Kim Jong-il regime criticized the Lee Myung-bak administration as “confrontational maniacs” as the “dollar offered by South Korea” decreased. It could be interpreted as, “If we [North Korea] attack, they [South Korea] should just take it and keep giving us the dollars, so why are they trying to fight us?”
There has been no regime like North Korea in human history that blames its own mistakes on others. They cause incidents anytime and anywhere, and even after the incident, they cover it up as a “self-fabricated play by South Korea.” Once North Korea’s South Korea propaganda department announces a “South Korean self-fabricated play,” pro-North and left-wing candlelight forces within our society blow the horn, so to say. This is exactly what can divide South Korea into two. This scenario is highly possible to happen during the early days of the Yoon administration. The fact that North Korea’s propaganda media brought up the term “confrontation” while mentioning the names of the incoming administration’s transition team gives off the stench of “self-fabrication and cover-up.”
North Korea’s economic situation is not in the best shape after more than two years of border lockdowns due to COVID-19. The number of marketplaces that have stopped operating has increased due to the rarity of products. People are starving. China’s interest in North Korea has drastically dropped due to the Ukraine crisis. Whether Russia wins or loses to Ukraine, China has no choice but to look toward Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe for geopolitical and border advantages. China has no time to pay attention to Northeast Asia and North Korea. Such a change in the international trend could attract Kim Jong-un into making “bigger provocations against South Korea.” Yoon Seok-youl’s new government must increase vigilance over North Korea’s provocations.
To read the original article in Korean, please click here.
