#North Korea suspends planned military action against the South

South Korean army soldiers ride on the back of a truck in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea
AP/Ahn Young-joon

After weeks of ratcheting up tensions, leader Kim Jong Un made an unexpected about-turn during a video-conference meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Military Commission, state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Wednesday.

A national-security body overseen by the dictator “took stock of the prevailing situation and suspended the military action plans against the South,” the statement said.

No reason was given for the unexpected halt other than discussions continuing on bolstering the country’s “war deterrent.”

Seoul was “closely reviewing” the North’s report, according to Yoh Sang-key, a spokesman of South Korea’s Unification Ministry.

Experts warned that it could only be a temporary move to make room for South Korean to make concessions in ongoing negotiations between the neighboring nations.

“What’s clear is that the North said (the military action) was postponed, not canceled,” said Kim Dong-yub, a former South Korean military official who participated in inter-Korean military negotiations.

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, also warned, “Now isn’t the time for anyone in Seoul or Washington to be self-congratulatory about deterring North Korea.

“There may be a pause in provocations or Pyongyang might temporarily deescalate in search of external concessions. But North Korea will almost certainly continue to bolster its so-called ‘deterrent.’

“As long as the Kim regime refuses to denuclearize, it is likely to use Seoul as a scapegoat for its military modernization and domestic politics of economic struggle after failing to win sanctions relief.”

Until Wednesday’s announcement, it was Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, who had made most of the threats against South Korea.

It was the first time Kim had been heard of for almost two weeks.

Officials noted it was also the first time he was known to have used video conferencing — further heightening speculation that it could be because of the coronavirus, despite the North claiming to have no cases.

North Korean army soldiers are seen at a military guard post in Paju, at the border with North Korea.

AP/Kim Do-hoon

A North Korean soldier stands guard at a sentry post in the North Korean town of Kaepung on the western front-line border with South Korea.

EPA

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The announcement came as the North claimed it had printed 12 million propaganda leaflets to drop from balloons over the South in revenge for leaflets from the South decrying life across the border.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Kim’s decision to halt military action would also stop the leafleting campaign.

Nuclear negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington largely stalled after Kim’s second summit with President Donald Trump last year in Vietnam.

David Helvey, the US acting assistant secretary of defense on Indo-Pacific affairs, said last week that North Korea’s recent actions showed it still “presents an extraordinary threat” to the U.S. and its allies, according to the Wall Street Journal.

With Post Wires