North Korea sends balloons with debris to South on day of important parliamentary session
North Korea sent balloons with debris back into South Korean territory on Monday, the same day it is holding an important parliamentary session in which it is expected to revise its Constitution to remove references to reunification and redefine its borders.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement that the neighboring country had again released balloons that could be directed toward the north of Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, and toward some areas of the southern capital.
Since May, the North has released more than 5,000 balloons in total in more than 20 shipments, in response to the sending of balloons with propaganda against Kim Jong-un’s regime by activists in the South.
North Korean media, meanwhile, have not reported the start of the Supreme People’s Assembly session scheduled for today.
It is also unclear how the amendments to the Constitution will be announced, as northern state media have previously reported only basic details and the full content of the legislative changes has only been known much later.
The call for the session is in response to leader Kim Jong-un’s wishes to make official what he said nine months ago about South Korea, with whom he says ties have been non-existent for five years and whom he described as the main national enemy.
The marshal also closed the door to reconciliation and reunification with the other half of the peninsula, which represents an important shift in the diplomatic strategy that the government in Pyongyang had articulated for more than three decades.
Experts believe that Kim’s willingness to reject dialogue, formalize the existence of two clearly differentiated states on the peninsula and unilaterally define the borders of the North could further worsen the already dismal atmosphere in the region.
You may also like:
