Inter-Korean relations are on the brink of collapse as North Korea declares a “clear break-up” with South Korea and warns of a possible military response. Despite the South Korean government’s stern measures against the distribution of propaganda flyers, North Korea heightened the level of its attacks on the South claiming it “will engage in action against the enemy.” This has led to growing concerns that any hopes of progress that the two Koreas had made in the last two years to build trust and to establish peace on the peninsula could go down the drain.

Kim Yo-jong, first deputy director of the Workers’ Party of Korea released a statement on June 13 and said, “Now we must retaliate with continuous action,” and added, “It seems it is now time to clearly part with South Korea.”

Kim also mentioned that the North would soon take the next stage of action saying, “In the near future, they will see the miserable sight of the North-South Korea Joint Liaison Office collapsing without a trace.” She continued and said that she had given instructions to departments overseeing affairs with South Korea to execute the next stage of action. She added, “I will hand over the authority to execute actions on the South to the General Staff of our army.” She practically declared plans to soon take military action annulling the September 19 military agreement between the two Koreas.

On the night of June 12, Jang Kum-chol, director of the United Front Department of the Workers’ Party of Korea also said, “Trust in the South Korean authorities has shattered to pieces,” and warned, “From now on, the passing time will truly be regrettable and painful for the South Korean authorities.” Jang mentioned Cheong Wa Dae’s decision to sternly respond to the distribution of propaganda flyers at a standing committee meeting of the National Security Council on June 11 and underrated the decision saying, “They have no willingness to fulfill their words and actions, and it is because of their weakness and incompetence that inter-Korean relations have ended up in this state.”

Kwon Jong-gun, director of United States affairs at the North Korean foreign ministry also released a statement on the afternoon of June 14 and commented on the South Korean foreign ministry’s position--“work to swiftly resume talks between North Korea and the U.S.”--saying, “They should give up the denuclearization nonsense,” and attacked, “It’s outrageous how the South Korean authorities, who are in no position to discuss the nuclear issue or issues between North Korea and the U.S., talk such nonsense.”

North Korea released three statements in twenty-four hours immediately responding to the South Korean government’s position, which suggests that it has no intention to give the South any leverage.

The government has been willing to put up with the criticism of displaying a “lowly attitude toward the North” and responded favorably to the North’s requests, but the North seems determined to move on to the next step in their plans regardless of the South’s actions.

On the surface, North Korea is criticizing the issue of propaganda flyers condemning their supreme leader, but experts believe this reflects the North’s discontent on the prolonged deadlock in negotiations with the U.S.; its disappointment in the South Korean government, which has failed to overcome the sanctions on the North; and the need to internally pull the nation together to cover up the COVID-19 crisis.

In other words, the North is intentionally building tension by defining the South as an “enemy” to overcome the crises it is facing inside and outside the nation.

■ Brinkmanship Against the South, the “Weak Link,” to Pressure Trump

Despite that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had built trust in three summits with President Moon Jae-in and engaged in nuclear negotiations with the U.S. with some assistance from President Moon, the accumulated disappointment and feelings of betrayal appear to have exploded following the collapse of the Hanoi summit. On top of this, U.S. President Donald Trump neglected negotiations with North Korea due to the approaching presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic, so the North may be trying to pressure Trump to take action by engaging in brinkmanship against the South, the “weak link.” This year is the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of Korea, so the North Korean leader needs to show the economic progress that he pledged. However, sanctions on North Korea remain in place and due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, the domestic situation continues to deteriorate. Fears that protest from the North Korean residents could lead to distrust in the system also acted as a factor that encouraged the North to opt for a hardline mode.

Now that North Korea warned that it will annul all the projects and agreements that the Moon Jae-in government had cited as its achievements and suggested it would remove even the building of the Kaesong inter-Korean liaison office, the achievements in inter-Korean relations that the Moon Jae-in government had worked to build will pale.

The government is struggling. At present, there is no room to resolve the situation. Early this day, Cheong Wa Dae held an emergency video conference of the National Security Council chaired by Chung Eui-yong, chief of the National Security Office. After the meeting, the Ministry of Unification announced, “The government believes the current situation is grave. North and South Korea should work to abide by all inter-Korean agreements.”

The Ministry of National Defense also released a statement and said, “Our military is maintaining firm military readiness to respond to any possible situation.”