PYONGYANG: North Korea said it tested an intermediate-range strategic missile on Saturday that involved the use of AI, hours after Seoul said Pyongyang had launched a ballistic missile.
North Korea’s military has placed mines and built anti-tank barriers along the frontier as part of efforts to permanently seal it off following leader Kim Jong Un’s designation of South Korea as his country’s “principal enemy” in 2024.
The mines responsible for the blast, which left three soldiers wounded, were believed to have been laid as part of Pyongyang’s border fortification work, according to South Korea’s defence minister Kang Shin-chul.
South Korea’s dovish President Lee Jae Myung had urged Pyongyang on Thursday to return to dialogue, despite his military demanding an apology a day earlier.
Kim Yo Jong responded by calling Seoul “really despicable” on Friday and once again denied Pyongyang was behind the blasts.
She ridiculed Lee’s latest overture, calling it “the climax of the farce that everyone should watch” and said the military’s demand her country apologise was “quite ridiculous”.
Kim also warned Pyongyang was “ready for everything” Seoul might do over the mine blast -- remarks followed the next morning by Pyongyang’s missile launch.
Analysts said the launch would be viewed as a show of force in response to the South Korean government’s diplomatic efforts, effectively rejecting engagement.
“Seoul called for easing tensions, but Pyongyang answered by escalating them,” Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.
“The message is that the North is pursuing... confrontation in response to goodwill,” he added.
