South Korea puts military on alert after North places artillery on fire standby

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Monday issued guidelines to military units to strengthen their alertness and firepower readiness in response to North Korea’s heightened threat levels to the South.

The area around the Kaesong Industrial Complex connected to the Gyeongui Line road in the western front of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) as seen from the border area of Paju, Gyeonggi on Monday. [YONHAP]

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Monday issued guidelines to military units to strengthen their alertness and firepower readiness in response to North Korea’s heightened threat levels to the South.

The South's military has also detected signs that the North may be preparing to blow up roads linking the two countries as early as today.

Late Sunday, North Korea ordered an artillery corps near the border with South Korea to fully prepare to fire, according to a report by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

“The JCS issued guidelines to strengthen the overall necessary readiness posture,” a South Korean military source said.

“We are closely monitoring the North Korean military’s movements, and our own military is on standby,” a JCS official said. “We cannot confirm specific operational details at this time.”

North Korea has been raising the level of threats against the South by claiming that South Korean drones have infiltrated the skies over Pyongyang several times.

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, threatened in a statement released through KCNA on Saturday that “the moment that a drone of South Korea is discovered in the sky over our capital city once again will certainly lead to a horrible disaster.”

The General Staff of the North Korean military issued an operational preparatory directive on Saturday to "artillery combined forces near the border and units assigned important firepower missions" to prepare for full-scale fighting, according to the KCNA on Sunday.

The operational preparatory directive included putting eight artillery brigades on a firing standby by 8 p.m. Sunday, and completing various operation security projects.

“Our military is closely monitoring the North Korean military’s movements and is fully prepared for the possibility of actual provocations,” said Lee Sung-joon, the public relations director of the South’s JCS, during a regular press briefing Monday.

North Korea claimed that South Korean drones infiltrated Pyongyang on Oct. 3, 9 and 10 and scattered anti-North leaflets, but the South’s military has taken an official position that it “cannot confirm” the facts.

“They claim that a drone appeared in the skies over Pyongyang, but they have not even confirmed where the drones came from and are blaming the South for it,” said Lee when asked whether the military has identified the source of the drones.

“At the same time, North Korea is keeping quiet about its responsibility for sending drones into the South more than 10 times, and this cannot be anything other than a double standard,” said Lee. “We strongly warn North Korea to stop sending dirty and low-level trash-laden balloons to South Korea first.”

When asked about the possibility of North Korea launching an all-out war, Lee responded that “North Korea may launch a space launch vehicle to change the situation or conduct a show-off explosion on the Gyeongui or Donghae lines, and the military is preparing for such a case.”

“Since North Korea is continuously upgrading their satellites and conducting necessary experiments, another space launch vehicle being launched is not imminent, but they might launch one early,” said Lee.

Regarding North Korea preparing to blow up the Gyeongui and Donghae line roads, Lee said the North“has installed a barrier on the roads and is preparing to blow up the road behind it, and it may happen as early as today.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department announced Monday that Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell will visit Seoul on Wednesday to discuss concerns surrounding North Korea's provocations with senior South Korean government officials.

"Deputy Secretary Campbell will meet with senior South Korean officials in Seoul to discuss bilateral cooperation to strengthen security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and shared regional and global challenges, including shared concerns surrounding North Korea's provocations on the Korean Peninsula," the State Department said in a press release.

The State Department also reported that the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between South Korea, the United States, and Japan, to be held in Seoul on Wednesday during Deputy Secretary Campbell's visit to South Korea will focus on threats from North Korea and the importance of compliance with international law in the South China Sea.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]