The two Koreas appear to be coming closer to an armed clash along their poorly marked military dividing line after a series of increasingly hostile warnings from the North, observers say.
Back-to-back statements on Wednesday and Thursday by Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, appear aimed at building a case for blaming Seoul for any future exchange of fire, they say.
“The two sides appear to be edging closer to accidental armed clashes,” said Oh Gyeong-seob, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
“The South Korean military has no other alternative but to respond with warning shots as North Korean troops keep intruding across the military demarcation line, while the North vows to retaliate strongly.”