North Korea’s calculated silence after the failure of martial law in South Korea

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on December 3, 2024 in Seoul. HANDOUT / SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE / AFP North Korea was at the heart of the justification for the decision of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who attempted to impose martial law on the night of Tuesday 3 to Wednesday 4 December. Finally rejected by Parliament, the leader had in fact deemed it necessary to protect South Korea from “threats from North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the pro-North Korean anti-state forces which brazenly destroy freedom and happiness [du] people “. To the special forces deployed in the wake of the declaration, the sponsors would have mentioned an infiltration of commandos from the North. A week after the coup by Mr. Yoon, now suspected of insurrection and mutiny, and whose offices were to be searched, Wednesday December 11, neither the North Korean daily Rodong Sinmun nor the central television nor the KCNA agency spoke about it. A calculated discretion, analyzes Peter Ward, of the Sejong Institute in Seoul, according to whom “the best thing for the North Koreans is to simply observe the political chaos in the South. If they engaged in major provocations, they could create a mobilization effect against them.” Strategically, silence could thus prove more interesting than provocation or thunderous reaction. “Pyongyang could have used this opportunity to emphasize its position in favor of two separate Koreas, and further isolate the South,” said researcher Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification. According to information from the South, the leaders of the North met urgently, the day after the attempted imposition of martial law, and carried out checks to see if there was not really had an incident. A group of former students It therefore seems that the North Korean threat was only a pretext to justify martial law. In October, the North denounced the sending of drones to Pyongyang. Seoul denied it but, citing a military source, Park Beom-kye, deputy of the Democratic Party (DP, opposition), revealed, Monday, December 9, that the drones had indeed been sent on the orders of the Minister of Defense, Kim Yong- hyun, considered the mastermind of the declaration of martial law, resigned. Indicted, the latter attempted to end his life on Tuesday, December 10. “The military counterintelligence command, led by Yeo In-hyung, seems to have planned the dispatch of the drones,” Mr. Park said, recalling that the coup had been prepared by a group of former students, including Kim Yong-hyun and Yoon Suk Yeol, having attended the same high school. You have 18.46% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.



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