Zürcher Nachrichten - Seoul sees no signs of new North Korean weapons on border

Pyongyang has rejected claims it was behind an explosion that injured three South Korean soldiers last month inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), the heavily mined buffer area that has divided the two Koreas since their 1953 armistice, and mockingly dismissed calls for an apology.

The country on Monday called the situation along the border "grave", saying it was considering deploying additional "tactical strike means" to the area.

On Thursday, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said the North would place loudspeakers on standby along the border "within days" and had put unspecified "new counter means" on alert.

The statement came less than 24 hours after Kim Yo Jong announced Pyongyang had moved new troop units into "firing position" after a visit to the border.

Both countries have occasionally turned to loudspeakers blaring propaganda across their shared border and other psychological warfare methods.

But Seoul's military said Thursday that it has seen no sign of new weapons being deployed so far.

"We have not observed any signs that North Korea is deploying new types of weaponry," Jang Do-young, spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.

"Nevertheless, given their claims, we are keeping a close watch on the situation," he added.

Asked about the North's loudspeaker claims, Jang said "routine maintenance work" had been observed even before it had issued its latest statements.

He added that Pyongyang's recent flurry of statements only suggested that the South's ongoing efforts to clear landmines inside the DMZ were "proving effective".

On Tuesday, North Korea decried what it claimed were nearly 1,000 "provocative" loudspeaker broadcasts and numerous warning shots fired by South Korean forces between October 1 and 17.

Seoul's military said Pyongyang was attempting to shift the blame for escalating military tensions, while confirming the use of loudspeakers and warning shots as "legitimate defensive measures".

Seoul has accused Pyongyang of "a clear violation of the Armistice Agreement" over the explosion that injured South Korean soldiers in the DMZ.

President Lee Jae Myung, meanwhile, has called for the North to return to dialogue, an overture Kim Yo Jong has slammed as "the climax of the farce".

North Korea has separately tested a slew of weapons recently, including a "new-type" precision-guided torpedo system and an intermediate-range hypersonic missile, both of which were said to use AI technology.

A.P.Huber--NZN