Aug. 19 (UPI) — North Korea has been issuing warnings to passing ships since the beginning of the week, a sign the regime could be getting ready for weapons tests, according to a South Korean press report.
A South Korean government official told the Kukmin Ilbo on Thursday that North Korea has issued maritime navigational warnings and that the move indicates a missile provocation could soon take place.
“We know that North Korea is issuing navigational warnings and will continue to do so for two, three days a week until early September, after the conclusion of U.S.-South Korea joint exercises,” the South Korean source said.
“We are closely monitoring the North’s movements.”
North Korea also issued navigational warnings on Sunday and Monday, but no missile provocations were reported this week.
Park Won-gon, an associate professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, said that North Korea could be preparing for a weapon test.
North Korea issues navigational warnings to prevent damage to lives and property, including those of other nations, Park said.
North Korea may also have “reversed a decision to launch to minimize the chance of a test failure” this week, according to Park.
But speculation is rising in the South that the North is also issuing the warnings as part of a larger strategy of “psychological warfare,” according to the Kukmin.
Shin Jong-woo, secretary general of the Korea Defense and Security Forum in Seoul, said that North Korea has issued navigational warnings in the past but did not conduct a launch.
Shin said that the internal situation in North Korea “made worse by COVID” could be pushing Pyongyang to manufacture military tensions to promote domestic unity, according to the Kukmin.
North Korea has accused the South of creating a hostile environment for peace but Seoul has offered assistance and diplomacy.
Noh Kyu-duk, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, said Thursday that Seoul is using different channels to restore humanitarian cooperation, Yonhap reported.