South Korea confirms the blast at the inter-Korean liaison office on June 16th. (Photo: Yonhap)

Observers say the situation on the Korean peninsula is extremely tense, in contrast to the optimistic atmosphere here two years ago, after the 1st US-North Korea summit was held in Singapore on June 12, 2018.  Since early this month, North Korea has been issuing vitriolic condemnations of the South for allowing defectors to send anti-Pyongyang leaflets over the border.

North Korea’s tough actions

The destruction of the liaison office fulfills a warning from Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and first Deputy Director of the Workers' Party of Korea, that her army would "surely" take action against the South.

One day before blowing up the liaison office, Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea, vowed "repetitive and thorough retaliation" against Seoul in a statement published on the 20th anniversary of the “June 15th Declaration” agreed at an inter-Korean summit in 2000 between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. The statement criticized South Korea for not preventing activists from spreading leaflets across the border.

North Korean news agency KCNA described the leaflet scattering as a preemptive attack that precedes a war. Last Tuesday North Korea shut off all lines of communication with South Korea, including a military hotline, and declared South Korea an “enemy”.

North Korea has also expressed displeasure with the US administration. KCNA quoted North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon as saying that two years after the summit in Singapore, any hope of improving US-North Korea relations has faded. He accused President Donald Trump’s administration of trying to isolate North Korea and threatening to change the regime or attack it with nuclear weapons.

Dangerous situation

Since the 2nd US-North Korean Summit in 2019 without result, North Korea has taken provocative actions, including scores of weapon tests, and refused Inter-Korean cooperative programs. Analysts attributed the on-going tension to deadlock of US-North Korea nuclear talks.

South Korea has repeatedly called on North Korea to honor cooperative agreements. On Monday President Moon Jae-in urged the North to seek a breakthrough in negotiations. The same day South Korean Minister of Unification Kim Yeon-chul said the two Koreas should remember the spirit of reconciliation that was awakened by the summit their leaders held in 2000. Kim said that spirit was not one of subservience but of autonomy, not confrontation but peace, not division but unification. He added that they mustn’t lose their direction amid the current crisis.

 The Joint Chiefs of Staff said said they are closely monitoring North Korea’s military moves and are maintaining a firm military readiness posture. South Korea’s National Security Council convened an emergency meeting of senior security officials to discuss North Korea’s recent moves.

Despite dangerous developments on the Korean peninsula, analysts said they believe that both countries’ leaders will refrain from making tension uncontrollable.