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Maj. Gen. Jeon Dong-jin, director of operations at the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks during a briefing at the Ministry of National Defense on June 17. (Yonhap News)

The South Korean Ministry of National Defense (MND) and Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) had a busy day on June 17, issuing an office statement of “deep concern” and warning and maintaining a strengthened surveillance posture against North Korea after the Korean People’s Army (KPA) General Staff warned of additional military measures for a second straight day.

Commenting on the latest JCS spokesperson’s announcement, the MND and JCS said that it “fully conflicts with past inter-Korean agreement, as well as the Panmunjom Declaration and Sept. 19 military agreement from 2018,” while expressing “profound concern about the announcement that it is pursuing ratification of various military action plans.”

Maj. Gen. Jeon Dong-jin, director of JCS operations, described the measures by North Korea’s military authorities as “instantly wiping away the efforts and results that South and North have made to develop inter-Korean relations and maintain peace of the Korean Peninsula over past 20 years or so.”

“If [the warnings] are actually translated into action, the North will pay the price,” he warned.

North Korean soldiers patrol a guard post in the DMZ in Kaepung County, North Hwanghae Province, on June 17. (Kim Bong-gyu, staff photographer)

Jeon went on to say that the South Korean military is “closely monitoring North Korean military movements around the clock and maintaining a robust military readiness posture,” adding it would “continue working to keep the situation on a stable footing and prevent the military crisis from intensifying.”

Military authorities have been beefing up their alertness and surveillance postures toward the North recently in the wake of a statement by Kim Yo-jong, first deputy director of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee, on June 15, which threatened retaliation in response to balloons filled with anti-North propaganda launched over the border. While the WATCHCON (intelligence and surveillance posture to track North Korean military activities) level as determined by South Korea and the US has not been raised, surveillance postures have been intensified for respective military branches as their capabilities allow, sources said. WATCHCON levels decrease from 3 to 1 with the increased urgency of the situation, with the South Korean reportedly maintaining a level of “4,” representing ordinary conditions.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

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