North Korea's Kim Yo Jong and Pak Jong Chon tour border fortification site
In short
North Korea's state news agency KCNA reported on 21 October that Pak Jong Chon, an adviser to the Defence Ministry, and Kim Yo Jong, a Workers' Party department director, toured key points of the southern border fortification works on 20 October. Pak said troops must counterattack immediately if the enemy provokes them, and Kim said the project to make the southern border permanent cannot be reversed.
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North Korea's state news agency KCNA reported on 21 October that Pak Jong Chon, an adviser to the Defence Ministry, toured key points of the southern border fortification construction site on 20 October. Party secretary Ri Il Hwan, Workers' Party department director Kim Yo Jong and key commanders of the Korean People's Army General Staff went with him. [ 1 , 5 , 6 , 11 ]
According to KCNA, Pak checked the barrier construction for making the border permanent and encouraged the soldiers at work. He said the claims of North Korean soldiers crossing the line were an intentional and premeditated pretext to shift blame for the worsening situation. He said that if the enemy, after warning broadcasts and warning shots, makes provocations that threaten the soldiers' real safety, they must not tolerate it and must counterattack immediately, and that it was no time for a war of words. [ 5 , 6 , 11 ]
Kim Yo Jong said the military leadership must make the 'gangs of thugs' aware that new fire units have taken firing positions. She said the head of state had ordered no concession in exercising territorial sovereignty and the making of the border with the hostile state into the most permanent line. She said the 'historic project' of making the southern border permanent could never be reversed. [ 4 , 6 , 11 ]
Hankook Ilbo also reported a Kim statement issued through KCNA, saying that within October loudspeakers for psychological warfare against South Korea would be operating along the entire border. In it she said South Korean troops had fired warning shots at no fewer than two places and that North Korea was showing restraint. The paper said that about four hours after the first report she corrected its date, saying she had been at the border at dawn on 21 October. [ 10 ]
Newsis said that since April 2024 North Korea has been laying mines and putting up fences and protective walls along the Military Demarcation Line, and that North Korean soldiers frequently cross it. Seoul Shinmun said the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Jin Yeong-seung, visited the 5th Corps on 20 October and ordered a firm response to any further provocation. Chosun Ilbo said the South's military had urged the North to stop the work since a DMZ mine explosion last month. [ 5 , 11 , 15 ]
Why it matters
South Korean outlets read the visit and the hard-line remarks as a response to warnings from Seoul's military and as a sign that the North will press on with the works. Chosun Ilbo said the North had in effect refused the South's call to stop the work.
Key facts
- KCNA reported on 21 October that Pak Jong Chon, Defence Ministry adviser, toured key points of the southern border fortification construction site on 20 October. [ 1 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 11 ]
- Party secretary Ri Il Hwan, Party department director Kim Yo Jong and key commanders of the Korean People's Army General Staff accompanied him. [ 1 , 5 , 6 , 11 ]
- Pak said that if the enemy, after warning broadcasts and warning shots, makes provocations that threaten North Korean soldiers' safety, they must not tolerate it and must counterattack immediately. [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 11 ]
- Kim Yo Jong said the head of state had ordered no concession on territorial sovereignty and to make the border with the hostile state the most permanent line. [ 4 , 6 , 7 , 11 ]
- Kim said the historic project of making the southern border permanent can never be reversed. [ 4 , 6 , 7 , 11 ]
- Pak called South Korea's claims of North Korean soldiers crossing the line an intentional, premeditated pretext to shift blame for the worsening situation. [ 5 , 6 , 11 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- KCNA reported that Pak Jong Chon and Kim Yo Jong toured the southern border fortification site, with Ri Il Hwan and General Staff commanders. [ 1 , 5 , 6 , 11 ]
- Pak Jong Chon said North Korean troops must counterattack immediately if the enemy makes provocations that threaten their safety. [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 11 ]
- Kim Yo Jong said the project to make the southern border permanent cannot be reversed. [ 4 , 6 , 7 , 11 ]
Still unclear
- Date of Kim Yo Jong's visit Hankook Ilbo reported that about four hours after the KCNA report, Kim issued a statement saying the date was wrong and that she visited the border at dawn on 21 October, not the day before. Other outlets give 20 October.
- North Korea's plan for loudspeaker broadcasts Only Hankook Ilbo reported Kim's statement that psychological-warfare loudspeakers aimed at South Korea would operate along the entire border within October; no other document confirms it.
- Whether the visit was a response to South Korean military moves Seoul Shinmun and Hankook Ilbo described it as a possible counter to the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman and other officials visiting front-line units; this is the outlets' interpretation and North Korea did not say so.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Yonhap flashes the KCNA report on the 20 October tour. [ 1 ]
- Seoul Economic Daily quotes Kim Yo Jong on the border being made permanent. [ 4 ]
- Hankook Ilbo reports Kim Yo Jong's statement on loudspeaker broadcasts and the date correction. [ 10 ]
- Chosun Ilbo reports that the North had in effect rejected Seoul's call to stop the work. [ 15 ]