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A South Korean guard post, left, and a North Korean guard post in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, are pictured on Tuesday. (Yonhap News)

End-of-day phone calls over the inter-Korean hotlines failed to take place Tuesday after a statement by Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee Deputy Director Kim Yo-jong, in which she expressed "deep regret at the perfidious behavior of the south Korean authorities" as South Korean and US military authorities began a rehearsal that day for the 21-2 Combined Command Post Training (CCPT).

The fact that the statement was also shared with the North Korean public suggests that Pyongyang may pursue a forceful response toward Seoul depending on the situation — including possible condemnation rallies and a re-disconnection of the liaison hotline.

Kim's statement was published by North Korea's internationally oriented Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) at 8:02 am that day.

In it, she denounced the military exercises as "the most vivid expression of the U.S. hostile policy towards the DPRK, designed to stifle our state by force, and an unwelcoming act of self-destruction for which a dear price should be paid as they threaten the safety of our people and further imperil the situation on the Korean peninsula."

"The dangerous war exercises pushed ahead by the U.S. and the south Korean side disregardful of our repeated warnings will surely make them face more serious security threat," she said.

The South Korea-US joint military exercises have been seen as a potential watershed for the Korean Peninsula situation during the second half of the year. They consist of crisis management staff training — a form of rehearsal taking place from Tuesday to Friday — followed by the main 21-2 CCPT from Monday to Aug. 26.

After the statement's release, North Korea declined to answer closing phone calls that afternoon on the inter-Korean hotlines, including the military communication line.

This marked the first time opening and closing calls on the hotlines did not take place normally since the lines were restored on July 27 — 413 days after their disconnection — based on correspondence between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

"The North did not answer the closing call in the afternoon. There was no separate mention of this by the North," a South Korean Ministry of Unification (MOU) official said.

Currently, the situation is considered a "technical difficulty," with North Korea having yet to answer the call.

In her statement, Kim Yo-jong took aim at both South Korea and the US, with Washington bearing the brunt of criticism in terms of focus and length. This appeared to suggest Pyongyang's conclusion that the decision to go ahead with the exercises at a reduced scale rather than postponing or canceling them reflected the US' will more strongly than South Korea's.

"This [decision to go ahead with the exercises] also proves that '"diplomatic engagement' and 'dialogue with no strings attached' touted by the present U.S. administration is hypocrisy to cover up its aggressive nature," she said.

"We have already clarified that we will counter the U.S. on the principle of power for power and goodwill for goodwill," she added.

It was a reiteration of the approach shared at the 8th WPK Congress in January by Kim Jong-un, who stressed at the time that the "key to establishing new DPRK-US relationship lies in the US withdrawal of its hostile policy toward the DPRK" and said North Korea would "approach the US on the principle of power for power and goodwill for goodwill."

At the end of her statement, Kim Yo-jong wrote, "I release this press statement upon authorization." This signaled that it expressed the views of Kim Jong-un and, according to an MOU official, represented the "approach settled upon by North Korean authorities."

The statement's criticisms of South Korea were comparatively restrained in terms of length and tenor.

By using the plural "south Korean authorities" to assign responsibility for "perfidious behavior," the statement avoided giving the appearance of directly attacking Moon Jae-in, who recently reached an agreement with Kim Jong-un to restore inter-Korean hotlines after the two leaders communicated through letters.

This stands in sharp contrast with a March 30 statement by Kim Yo-jong, in which she called Moon a "parrot raised by America" and used emotionally tinged phrases such as "shamelessness" and "brazen-faced behavior."

Kim's statement was originally released only through KCNA, a North Korean news medium for an overseas audience, but not in the day's edition of the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, which is meant for domestic readers. An hour after its publication, the opening calls on the hotlines took place as usual.

The mood changed in the afternoon. Kim's statement was broadcast to the general public on Chosun Central Television and on Chosun Central Broadcasting. Following this, military communications were shut down, including the direct hotline connecting North and South Korea. There are concerns on what actions the North may resort to.

The most eye-catching part of the North's statement regarding any future response was seen in the declaration, "We will accelerate efforts to strengthen our national defense and preemptive strike capabilities to respond swiftly to any hostile military actions."

The North said that if the US does not drop its hostile policies toward it by easing sanctions and suspending joint South Korea-US military exercises, it may consider strategic military actions such as the test firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile to shake up the situation on the peninsula, which has long been in a state of stalemate.

However, there was no sense of any imminent action. A former high-ranking South Korean official said, "The possibility of low-intensity military action such as multiple rocket launches cannot be ruled out."

Referring to the presence of US forces in South Korea and joint military exercises with South Korea, Kim said, "The root cause of periodic deteriorating relations on the Korean peninsula will never be fixed as long as the US military is stationed in South Korea."

Kim continued, "If there is to be peace on the Korean peninsula, the US must first remove its forces of aggression and war machinery from South Korea."

At a party convention in January, Kim Jong Un listed his concerns, mentioning the issue of US forces in Korea as well as the need to suspend the import of advanced military equipment and the conducting of joint military exercises.

The South Korean government responded cautiously to the North's statement concerning its possible course of action.

An MOU official said, "As indicated by Kim Yo-jung's statement on [Aug. 1] denouncing the joint military exercise, the North has reiterated its existing position on the issue."

The official added, "We will prepare for any contingency without making any predictions."

A Blue House official said, "The seriousness of the issue has led Blue House national security advisor Suh Hoon to report directly to President Moon."

The official added that he was unaware of any unusual moves by the North.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]