[Anchor]

Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of North Korea's Workers' Party, has warned that new countermeasures and loudspeaker systems will be placed on standby near the Military Demarcation Line. Meanwhile, the South Korean government has decided to send a letter to the president of the UN Security Council regarding the North Korean landmine explosion incident.

Reporter Kim Ayeong reports.

[Reporter]

North Korean officials, including Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Workers' Party, inspect what appear to be solidly built concrete barriers, tactical roads, and barbed-wire fences near the Military Demarcation Line.

It confirms that North Korea's so-called "border fortification" work, aimed at physically severing the two Koreas, has made significant progress.

After unveiling these installations the day before yesterday (October 21), North Korea continued its barrage of statements yesterday (October 22).

Kim Yo-jong announced that new countermeasures along the entire border would enter mission-ready status, and loudspeaker facilities would also be placed on standby within a few days.

This is interpreted as an intention to keep them ready for operation at any moment. After saying on October 19 that North Korea was reviewing the resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts, Kim declared on October 21 that operations would begin within this month, and issued another related message yesterday.

This is a so-called "salami-slicing" incremental pressure tactic.

It is analyzed as an effort to demand an end to the South Korean military's warning broadcasts and warning shots, which Pyongyang appears to view as a tangible threat to its construction activities.

[Cho Han-bum / Distinguished Research Fellow, Korea Institute for National Unification: "It seems Kim Jong-un has set a target deadline. To wrap up the work in the meantime, they are issuing warnings to the South Korean military, but a physical clash also appears to be a burden for them as well...."]

The South Korean military reaffirmed its position that it will take proportional measures if North Korea begins operating loudspeakers aimed at the South, and as North Korea's offensive intensifies, government countermeasures are also taking shape.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it plans to send a letter to the president of the UN Security Council regarding the landmine explosion incident and the recent situation in the Demilitarized Zone.

[Park Doo-soon / Spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "The letter will include demands for North Korea's apology and responsible measures, while calling for dialogue to prevent escalating tensions and rebuild trust."]

This effectively places the landmine blast on the official record of the UN Security Council, and a foreign ministry official added that unilateral cyber sanctions against North Korea by the South Korean government also remain an active option.

(Camera by Cho Chun-dong | Video Editing by Jeong Seong-hun)