North Korea denies artillery firing and mocks South Korea's detection capabilities
Seoul (AP): The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un mocked South Korea's ability to detect weapons launches by the North on Sunday, as she denied Seoul's claim that North Korea fired artillery shells into the sea the previous day.
South Korea's military quickly dismissed her statement as "a low-level psychological warfare" and warned that it will make a stern response to any provocations by North Korea.
South Korea's military earlier said North Korea fired shells near the rivals' disputed western sea boundary for a second consecutive day on Saturday. The military said North Korea fired more than 60 rounds on Saturday, a day after launching more than 200 shells.
North Korea acknowledged it performed artillery firings on Friday but said it didn't fire a single round on Saturday.
Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong, said Sunday that North Korea only detonated blasting powder simulating the sound of its coastal artillery at the seashore to test the South Korean military's detection capabilities.
"The result was clear as we expected. They misjudged the blasting sound as the sound of gunfire and conjectured it as a provocation. And they even made a false and impudent statement that the shells dropped north" of the sea boundary, Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media.
"I cannot but say that (South Korean) people are very pitiful as they entrust security to such blind persons and offer huge taxes to them," she said. "It is better 10 times to entrust security to a dog with a developed sense of hearing and smell."
Calling South Korea's military "gangsters" and "clowns in military uniforms," Km Yo Jong suggested its possible future miscalculation of North Korean moves could cause an accidental clash between the rivals, jeopardising the safety of Seoul, a city of 10 million people which is only an hour's drive from the land border.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff responded in a statement that it closely monitors North Korean military activities. It said North Korea must stop acts that escalate tensions, saying it will "overwhelmingly" react if North Korea launches provocations.
South Korea carried out artillery firings on Friday in response to the North's earlier firing drills. South Korea didn't perform live-firing exercises on Saturday.
Animosities between the two Koreas are running high because North Korea has conducted a barrage of missile tests since 2022 while South Korea has expanded its military training with the United States in a tit-for-tat cycle.
During their respective artillery firings on Friday, both Koreas fired shells at a maritime buffer zone they had established under a 2018 military agreement meant to ease front-line military tensions.
The agreement was meant to halt live-fire exercises and aerial surveillance along their tense border, but the deal is now in danger of collapsing because the two Koreas have taken measures in breach of the accord.
Experts say Kim Jong Un is likely to ramp up weapons tests ahead of South Korea's parliamentary elections in April and the US presidential elections in November. They say Kim Jong Un likely thinks a bolstered weapons arsenal would allow him to wrest greater US concessions when diplomacy resumes.
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
