SEOUL, Aug. 21 (UPI) — As tensions escalated on the Korean peninsula and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country is in a “semi-state of war” against the South, Pyongyang launched a diplomatic offensive to persuade outside observers of its innocence and to warn of the consequences that await Seoul and its allies.
Pyongyang’s envoys in Beijing, the U.N. and Moscow all struck a similar chord on what North Korea has called “the South’s self-fabricated provocation,” regarding the reported firing of North Korea artillery shells on Friday.
South Korean outlet Newsis reported North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Saturday that said South Korea’s “puppet regime” was unilaterally blaming a shelling incident on the North, calling Seoul’s statement a “calculated provocation.”
“Our army and people are ready to defend with our lives the system we have chosen, and for this we are ready for an all-out war,” North Korea said.
Pyongyang said South Korea’s “provocations” were bordering on war because of the “hostile U.S. policy toward North Korea,” a reference to the joint drills Ulchi Freedom Guardian that were restarted after being stopped on Friday.
General Kim Yong Chol, director of the Reconnaissance General Bureau said before an audience of foreign diplomats and journalists in Pyongyang that the resumption of the South’s loudspeaker broadcasts were an “explicit abrogation of a North-South military agreement.”
“[The front-line propaganda broadcasts] are a serious military provocation, and could lead to the worst incident in the history of North-South relations,” Kim said.
Pyongyang’s envoys at key locations made similar remarks.
An Myong Hun, North Korea’s deputy U.N. ambassador, held an emergency press conference in New York on Friday to condemn Seoul’s claims.
“The land mind explosions were nothing but a scheme to restart the psychological warfare [broadcasts] that we opposed,” An said.
An also said Seoul’s claims that North Korea fired shells across the demilitarized zone is an “excuse” and an example of “atrocious behavior that pushes us into war.”
Despite the tense atmosphere along the border, business was operating as usual at a jointly run factory park in Kaesong, North Korea, South Korean television network KBS reported.
The movement of South Korean personnel to and from Kaesong was being more strictly regulated, but at present 639 South Korean business personnel and managers are in Kaesong and another 544 South Korean nationals remain in North Korea’s special economic zone.
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