Graphic toont de tijdlijn van recente ontwikkelingen, en de gebieden waarheen het Noord-Koreaanse leger wordt gestuurd.
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MILITARY

Noord-Korea zet troepen in gedemilitariseerde gebieden

By Jordi Bou

June 18, 2020 - Met een toenemend gekibbel aangewakkerd door overlopers in Zuid-Korea die anti-regime-propagandaballonnen over de Noord-Koreaanse grens sturen, wordt het risico van een militaire confrontatie groter.

North Korea said on Wednesday it had rejected a South Korean offer to send special envoys to ease escalating tension over defiance by North Korean defectors and stalled reconciliation efforts, and it vowed to redeploy troops to border areas.

The rivals have intensified their animosities in recent days, with Pyongyang unleashing fiery rhetoric over propaganda leaflets that South Korean activists have launched aboard balloons toward North Korea. North Korea on Monday blew up a joint liaison office set up on its side of the border as part of a 2018 peace agreement between the two countries’ leaders.

Many experts say North Korea is dialing up pressure on Seoul and Washington as its troubled economy has likely worsened due to U.S.-led sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic. Nuclear diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington has made little headway for more than a year.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 18/06/2020; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Associated Press, Getty Images, Newscom
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