NK to redeploy troops to Kaesong, Mount Kumgang areas, rejects Seoul's offer for envoys

The North's disclosure of its rejection of the special envoy proposal shows the regime has no intention to defuse tensions through dialogue and will carry out a series of measures it has threatened to take in anger over propaganda leaflets criticizing its leader.

As part of such measures, the General Staff of the Korean People's Army said it will send troops to the now shuttered inter-Korean industrial complex in its border city of Kaesong and the Mount Kumgang tourist zone on the east coast -- two key symbols of inter-Korean reconciliation.

The North also said it will restore guard posts removed from the Demilitarized Zone separating the two sides and resume "all kinds of regular military exercises" near the inter-Korean border in an apparent move to abolish a military tension-reduction deal signed in 2018.

These measures came a day after the North blew up the liaison office building in Kaesong.

"Units of the regiment level and necessary firepower sub-units with defense mission will be deployed in the Mount Kumgang tourist area and the Kaesong Industrial Zone," a spokesperson of the General Staff said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.   

"Civil police posts that had been withdrawn from the Demilitarized Zone under the north-south agreement in the military field will be set up again to strengthen the guard over the front line," it said.

In a separate report, the KCNA also revealed that South Korean President Moon Jae-in offered to send special envoys to leader Kim Jong-un, but the North "flatly" rejected the proposal as a "tactless" and "sinister" proposal.

"Upon the urgent message sent by the south side in a hurry, Kim Yo Jong, first vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, made known the stand that we flatly reject the tactless and sinister proposal," the KCNA said, referring to leader Kim's sister.

Kim Yo-jong also issued a statement later, blasting South Korean President Moon over his recent speech urging the communist nation not to backtrack inter-Korean relations, and blaming Seoul for hurting cross border ties.

On Monday, Moon delivered a speech to mark the 20th anniversary of the first-ever inter-Korean summit in 2000, calling for the North to leave the door for dialogue open and emphasizing the need for the two Koreas to build mutual trust based on the spirit of the historic meeting.

Kim called the speech "disgusting," saying that it was full of excuses and deep-rooted toadyism without making an apology over leafleting and promised to prevent it but only trying to avoid responsibility.

North Korea has taken a series of retaliatory action against South Korea, denouncing the sending of leaflets criticizing its leadership and regime by defectors and other activists as an act that breaches inter-Korean agreements.

Pyongyang has vowed to deal with South Korea as an "enemy," cutting off all cross-border communication lines, and threatened to take other measures, including military action. It also has threatened to dismantle a now-shuttered joint industrial park in Kaesong and scrap the 2018 military deal the two Koreas signed to reduce cross-border tensions.

On Tuesday, the KPA's General Staff warned that it is reviewing an action plan to advance into "the zones that had been demilitarized under the north-south agreement, turn the front line into a fortress and further heighten the vigilance" against the South.

It did not elaborate on where the border areas would be, but they seem to be referring to regions around the western border town of Kaesong and Mount Kumgang on the east coast from which the North previously withdrew troops as the now-shuttered joint economic and tour projects were under way.

In a surprise move later on the same day, North Korea blew up an inter-Korean joint liaison office in Kaesong in anger over the leafleting issue. The explosion sparked concern that the North could put other threats against the South into action, including taking military action.

South Korea expressed strong regret and warned it would sternly respond if the North takes more action to escalate tension. Washington also urged the North to refrain from "further counterproductive actions."

The demolition of the liaison office marked the latest setback in inter-Korean relations, which have been almost stalled since a no-deal summit between Pyongyang and Washington in February last year.

Last October, North Korea demanded the South tear down all "unpleasant-looking" facilities at the now shuttered Mount Kumgang resort on its east coast. Launched in 1998, the tour program was a symbol of inter Korean reconciliation and cooperation, but it has been put on hold since 2008, when a South Korean tourist was shot dead near the resort for allegedly trespassing in an off-limits area. (Yonhap)