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North Korea declared it would take an “all-out confrontational posture” against the South and hinted at the possibility of strong military action, heightening tension along the inter-Korean border, just a few days ahead of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama.

“As the South opted for the road to confrontation with the help of outside powers, ignoring the call for conciliation and cooperation among the Korean people, our revolutionary armed forces have no choice but to take an all-out confrontational posture to trample on it,” an unidentified spokesman for the chief of the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army warned Saturday in a message. The spokesman added that “strong” military action would be taken to assert its position on the Northern Limit Line, the disputed western sea border with the South.

South Korea immediately put the military on high alert, reportedly asking for U.S. cooperation on gathering intelligence on the North, and mobilized its reconnaissance resources, including U-2 aircraft. A high-ranking official said, “The government is paying close attention to the North, but we will not take any immediate action. We have not scheduled any emergency security meetings and no separate statement will be issued.”

The hostile statement from the North is being interpreted as a renewed effort to push its position on the NLL. The North refuses to recognize the border drawn 10 years ago by the U.S.-led United National Military Command and wants its drawn further south. This could lead to a military confrontation between the two countries and, with inter-Korean dialogue channels having been cut off, a skirmish could develop into a serious clash between the two Koreas. Previous clashes along the NLL between North and South took place in 1999 and 2002.

Experts say that though the North may have diverse objectives for having released the statement, it is possible that it may be trying to increase its leverage prior to the Obama administration’s inauguration.

The statement “will likely undercut the incoming Obama administration’s ability to negotiate,” said Jeong Se-hyun, the chairman of the Korea Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation. “Even if that’s part of the North’s strategy, it has to consider whether the means it is using to achieve its objective are reasonable, rather than just thinking about its goals.”

Park Sun-seong, a professor at Dongguk University and a North Korea expert, said, “The statement reminds me of the ‘sea of fire’ statement made (by the North) in 1994.” The North said it would turn Seoul into a “sea of fire” following the first nuclear confrontation between North Korea and the United States. Park said that the latest statement could be an attempt by the North to increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula, which it believes would give it more ground in future negotiations, but “still, it is self-destructive.”

Moon Chung-in, a professor of political science at Yonsei University, said that the latest statement may have been made in response to a recent remark the North regarded as a hard line against it by the assistant secretary of defense nominated by the Obama administration.

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