Border tension between the two Koreas and Seoul threatens a firm response

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The South Korean military warned Tuesday of a "firm" response and strict punishment for any additional provocations from North Korea, considering it "unacceptable" for Pyongyang to hold Seoul responsible for escalating tensions.

North Korea rejected accusations of being behind an explosion that injured three soldiers last month inside the demilitarized zone, a buffer zone densely planted with mines that has separated the two Koreas since a 1953 armistice, and also mocked calls for an apology.

Pyongyang said on Monday that the situation on the common border between the two countries is "dangerous," adding that it is considering deploying additional "tactical strike means" in the region.

It denounced what it said were about a thousand "provocative" broadcasts over loudspeakers and several warning shots fired by South Korean forces between October 1 and October 17.

Seoul said on Tuesday that it used loudspeakers and warning shots as "legitimate defensive measures to prevent North Korean forces from crossing the military demarcation line and force the forces that crossed it to retreat," without specifying the number of times it used them.

The military border demarcation line is the border between the two countries within the demilitarized zone.

South Korean Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Jin Yong-sung accused Pyongyang of "groundlessly holding our military responsible for the escalation of military tension."

"It is unacceptable that North Korea yesterday described our legitimate operational measures as a 'provocation,'" Jin said, according to a statement.

Jin ordered the military to "respond firmly" if North Korea used Seoul's measures as a pretext for aggressive action, while the Defense Ministry warned that any such actions would be met with "severe" punishment.

Tensions between North and South have escalated in recent years, after a series of cross-border incidents.

In 2024, North Korea sent thousands of garbage-laden balloons to the South, saying it was responding to anti-Pyongyang balloons launched by South Korean activists.

The South later resumed, for the first time in six years, broadcasting over loudspeakers on the border, including Korean pop music and international news, while the North began broadcasting strange and frightening sounds across the border, alarming the South Korean population.

"What North Korea fears is not so much the warning shots used to force its forces to retreat, but rather the broadcast of loudspeakers and the distribution of anti-North Korean leaflets," Hong Seung-pyo, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Military Affairs, told AFP.

He added, "They are very sensitive to such measures because they may reveal information that the regime sought to hide, which is the reality of the situations in South Korea and North Korea."

Seoul accused Pyongyang of committing a "clear violation of the armistice agreement" against the backdrop of the explosion that injured South Korean soldiers inside the demilitarized zone, while the authority in Seoul called on the North to return to dialogue.

Since then, Pyongyang has ridiculed South Korean President Lee Jae-myung's initiative, with Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader's sister, describing it as "the height of farce."

South Korean Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul said last month that the military had “a set of necessary measures available, and we will implement them in stages” to respond to the mine explosion in the demilitarized zone, without providing details.

In a separate context, North Korea recently tested a group of weapons, including a “new type” precision-guided torpedo system and a medium-range hypersonic missile, both of which it said used artificial intelligence technology.