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South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo speaks during a plenary session of the National Assembly’s Defense Committee in Seoul on June 22. (Yonhap News)

Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo described North Korea’s demolition of the Inter-Korean Joint Liaison Office in Kaesong as “unrelated to the [inter-Korean] military agreement of Sept. 19 [2008]” while appearing before a plenary session of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee on June 22.

“The Sept. 19 military agreement directly concerned various measures to prevent an unintended military clash, so it is unrelated to the joint liaison office,” he explained. In September 2018, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un drafted a military agreement with provisions including the suspension of all hostile activities by land, sea, and air.

Commenting on the role of Kim Jong-un’s younger sister Kim Y-jong, first deputy director of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Central Committee, Jeong said, “She is playing a substantive role as second-in-command.”

“Kim Yo-jong is basically playing the ‘heavy’ right now, and when the time comes later on for final improvements to inter-Korean or North Korea-US relations or a change in policy, we expected it will be done under the stronger status of Kim Jong-un as leader,” he explained.

The Ministry of National Defense (MND) also delivered an operational report in which it noted signs of preparations for a large-scale military review to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the WPK on Oct. 10. This included construction of a large equipment storage facility in the area of Pyongyang’s Miriam Airport and repair work at Kim Il-sung Square.

“The 5MWe reactor at Yongbyon has remained suspended for a long time, and no particular activity has been detected around the nuclear testing site at Punggye Village,” the ministry said.

“But personnel and vehicle activities related to missiles have continued,” it added.

The South Korean military said it has no plans to increase the “WATCHCON” level indicating the intelligence and surveillance posture for tracking North Korean military activities. There are a total of five WATCHCON levels, with the South Korean military maintaining a level of “4” at ordinary times. As the crisis level increases, the level is upgraded to a lower number.

By Seo Young-ji, staff reporter

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