South Korean Defense Minister Instructs North Korean Provokers' Strict Action Forces

The archive - The photo, broadcast by the North Korean news agency KNA on March 25, 2022, shows the test launch of North Korea's Hwasongpho-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). (ANTARA/Korean Central News Agency)

JAKARTA - South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik called for harsh punishment for any provocations North Korea carries out in the south of sea and land borders.

"If the enemy commits provocations south of the Military Demarcation Line and the Northern Boundary Line, immediately punish them firmly, firmly and to the end, and completely destroy the forces that provoke and support forces," he said as quoted by ANTARA from Yonhap, February 16.

The statement was made by Defense Minister Shin during his visit to South Korean Army Command amid tensions due to weapons tests including Pyongyang cruise missiles that continue and increasingly violent rhetoric.

The Army is tasked with overseeing frontline operations since two days after North Korea fired several cruise missiles off its east coast in the fifth launch of this year on Wednesday (14/2).

During his visit to the Land Operations Command in Yongin, south of Seoul, Shin also said that North Korea was deliberately creating an atmosphere of war to strengthen internal solidarity and sow divisions in South Korea.

He said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversees the new surface-to-sea' missile test and calls for the use of force against South Korean ships that violate its waters.

Not only that, Kim Jong-un also claimed that the Northern Boundary Line, which de factoically constitutes the inter-Korean sea border as a "ghost" line without any legal basis.

Experts have also voiced concerns that North Korea could carry out local provocations around sea and land borders ahead of South Korea's parliamentary elections in April or the US presidential election in November.

North Korea fired several cruise missiles off Korea's east coast on Wednesday marking North Korea's fifth cruise missile launch this year.

The South Korean military detected the missile that was launched at around 9 am local time (7 am WIB) into Wonsan's northeast waters on the east coast. However, there was no mention of the number of missiles fired.

"While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military has coordinated closely with the United States to monitor additional signs of North Korea's provocation," said the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).