“It was unusual that the North announced that it was reacting to a 10-hour long artillery drill. It seems like the shelling was aimed at testing whether Seoul really thinks about breaking the military agreement. If the North dared to ignore the agreement, it can simply arm its soldiers in the Demilitarized Zone. Many South Korean politicians assume that the North is staging the military actions with some great purpose in mind, but there are fair chances that Pyongyang is just responding to Seoul's stance of enhancing extended deterrence with the U.S. If we look into the situation from North Korea's shoes, South Korea's new Yoon government abruptly started to mention extended deterrence. Then, it brought a U.S. aircraft carrier for naval drills, so the North also started to react. And now, South Korea is talking about deploying U.S. nuclear weapons or developing its own warheads. I'm not trying to justify the North's military actions, but it is questionable whether the current spiral of provocation-punishment is helpful in controlling the situation of the Korean Peninsula. The North has become confident about its weapon system. Unlike in the past, there will not be a breather if the two sides keep raising tensions.”

by: Hong Min