Kim Jong Un suspends military action plans against S. Korea

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has suspended military action plans against South Korea, taking a step back from the threat the North made ahead of the 70th anniversary of the Korean War. North Korea has taken a breather after the U.S. sent three aircraft carriers and B-52 strategic bombers near the Korean Peninsula to put North Korea under pressure. But the North has suggested that it might carry out another provocation that might involve submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) by stressing measures for “further bolstering the war deterrent of the country.” Tensions between the two Koreas are likely to continue to rise on the Korean Peninsula surrounding the resumption of ROK-U.S. joint military drills in August.

North Korea’s official newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported on Wednesday that military action plans against South Korea were suspended at a preliminary meeting of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party chaired by Kim Jong Un on Tuesday.

Pyongyang’s shift in policy appears to have considered a possibility of facing military pressure from the U.S. if it continues to raise military threats when it has already succeeded in rallying public opinion to its side in the country by blowing up inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong and denouncing anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by a North Korean defector group.


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