North Korea threatens to declare war

Pyongyang has accused Seoul of dropping propaganda leaflets from a drone

North Korea said on Saturday that it has discovered fragments of a crashed South Korean military drone and threatened its neighbor with retaliation. The announcement adds to the already tense atmosphere on the peninsula. 

According to Pyongyang’s state-run news agency KCNA, the UAV was likely used to drop leaflets over the capital. Similar drones were spotted scattering leaflets full of “political propaganda and slander” earlier this month, the outlet said. 

“If a violation of the DPRK’s territorial ground, air and waters by ROK’s military means is discovered and confirmed again, it will be regarded as a grave military provocation against the sovereignty of the DPRK and a declaration of war and an immediate retaliatory attack will be launched,” KCNA warned, as quoted by Reuters. 

Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a top government official, claimed on Thursday that Pyongyang had “clear evidence” that the South had violated the country’s airspace. 

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South Korea has refused to confirm that its drones were flying across the border, however, with Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Colonel Lee Sung-jun telling reporters this week that the matter was “something that should be clarified by North Korea.” 

Pyongyang has been ginning up hostile rhetoric in recent months, accusing its southern neighbors of “provocations.” This week, North Korea blew up sections of roads leading to South Korea, vowing to “completely separate” the two countries and transform the border area into “an eternal fortress.” In January, Kim Jong-un proposed to abandon the longstanding commitment to reunification and labeled South Korea a “principal enemy.” 

The tensions take place after a series of friendly gestures in the late 2010s when US President Donald Trump sought to de-escalate the situation on the Korean peninsula. The meeting between Trump and Kim in Hanoi in 2019 ended in a failure, however, with both sides accusing each other of making unrealistic demands. Pyongyang has since ramped up missile tests, while the US launched more joint military drills with South Korea.