Kim Jong-un's Direct Criticism of President Yoon... Prelude to Provocation [Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club]

Kim Jong-un Criticizes President Yoon by Name for the First Time in 2 Years
On the 7th, Enacts Law to Justify Provocations at the Supreme People's Assembly

North Korea is escalating military tensions. Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, has directly criticized President Yoon Suk-yeol by name. This is the first time in over two years since his so-called Victory Day speech in July 2022 that Chairman Kim has openly criticized President Yoon by name.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 4th, the Korean Central News Agency reported that Chairman Kim, during his visit to the training base of the Korean People's Army Special Operations Unit in the western district, referred to President Yoon as the "Yoon Suk-yeol puppet," and disparaged him by saying, "The Yoon Suk-yeol puppet read a lengthy speech full of anti-Republic obsession from start to finish, driven by a sense of grievance against our Republic, under the guise of a commemorative address."

Along with this criticism, North Korea also launched anti-South Korea trash balloons again. This was two days after the last balloon launch on the 2nd. North Korea has sent balloons southward 24 times so far this year, including this instance.

Military insiders analyze this as the beginning of provocations. It is expected that on the 7th, during the Supreme People's Assembly, North Korea will institutionalize the 'hostile two-state theory' by deleting the unification-related provisions from the constitution and establishing new territorial regulations such as a 'maritime border line.' There is also a possibility of adding clauses regarding territory, territorial waters, and airspace to the constitution. In particular, North Korea may deny the West Sea Northern Limit Line (NLL) and assert their own 'maritime border line.' This raises the risk of renewed armed clashes between the South and North near the West Sea NLL, once known as the 'powder keg of the Korean Peninsula.'

To support the hostile two-state theory and the establishment of a maritime border line, North Korea may also annul the South-North Basic Agreement signed in December 1991. This agreement was the first document to define South and North Korea as a 'special relationship aiming for unification.' It also included provisions that neither side would engage in slander, defamation, or acts aimed at destroying or overthrowing the other. The agreement contains a clause regarding the maritime boundary line stating, "Until a maritime non-aggression boundary line is established, both sides shall maintain the areas they have administered so far." Because of this, North Korea was considered to have implicitly recognized the NLL.

In response, South Korea and the United States are strengthening joint exercises against North Korean provocations. The South Korean and U.S. navies conducted a joint maritime exercise over two days, from the 2nd to the 3rd, involving a U.S. carrier-class amphibious assault ship. The exercise was interpreted as preparation for the possibility that North Korea might nullify the West Sea Northern Limit Line (NLL) and perpetually destabilize the surrounding waters. Four ships participated in the exercise: South Korea’s Dokdo-class large transport ship Marado (LPH, 14,500 tons), destroyers Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin (DDH-II, 4,500 tons) and Yang Man-chun (DDH-I, 3,200 tons), and the U.S. Navy’s medium carrier-class (40,000 tons) amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD-4). Among these, the U.S. amphibious assault ship USS Boxer can carry multiple F-35B stealth fighters operated by the U.S. Marine Corps.