According to media reports, the supreme leader of the DPRK no longer showed any mercy towards the ROK in his New Year's Day speech a few days ago: "The DPRK and the ROK are no longer relations between the same nation, but relations between hostile countries that can never be reunified." As soon as the North Korean leader's voice fell, according to Reuters, the South Korean military said on the 5th that the North Korean side conducted a firepower coverage Xi exercise on the west coast near Yeonpyeong Island that morning. It is reported that the DPRK fired more than 200 artillery shells during the Xi.
Although the shells fired by the North Korean army all fell on the side of the North Korean side, South Korea, which had experienced the horror of the artillery battle on Yeonpyeong Island, was like a frightened bird. When North Korean artillery shells exploded near the actual maritime border between the two Koreas, the South Korean military quickly evacuated local residents. According to Reuters, local residents confirmed they received evacuation notices within a day asking them to evacuate due to "military Xi to be held in the area later that day." Obviously, in the face of the North Korean artillery covering exercise, the South Korean military does not seem to want to show weakness, and is also ready to let its own K-9 self-propelled howitzer make some movement, which will not only deter the north, but also reassure its own people.
As a matter of fact, the reason why the DPRK carried out an artillery covering drill in the vicinity of Yeonpyeong Island on the 5th and forced the ROK to urgently evacuate the local residents was, to put it bluntly, the result of the ROK taking the blame on itself. Recently, the United States and South Korea held a week-long joint military exercise near the North Korean border. According to US media reports, the United States and South Korea dispatched heavy weapons, including tanks, armored vehicles and helicopters, to conduct live-fire training. In response, Pyongyang issued a document denouncing the United States and South Korea: such a dangerous move has pushed the region to the brink of "nuclear war purgatory".
In this regard, the General Staff of the Korean People's Army issued a report on the 5th, pointing out that the Xi exercise was a "natural response" of the North Korean army to the provocative actions of the South Korean military, because the South Korean army has been conducting large-scale artillery firing and mobile training near the border line between the two Koreas since the beginning of the year. In addition, the report warned that if the enemy provoked under the pretext of response, the KPA "will carry out an unprecedented tough countermeasure." Obviously, if the South Korean military responds to the North Korean artillery cover exercise, such as holding a similar artillery drill, the North Korean countermeasures may escalate further. If you don't get it right, the historical scene of the artillery battle between the two Koreas on Yeonpyeong Island may be repeated.
It's no wonder that the South Korean military evacuated the local population twice in one day, after all, God knows what is in the mind of the other side right now. In particular, when the military communication channels between the DPRK and the ROK are interrupted due to the deterioration of relations, no one in the ROK presidential office and the Ministry of National Defense knows what the DPRK will do next? This is not the most fatal for the Seoul authorities. In the current situation on the peninsula, once a military conflict breaks out between the two sides, the consequences may not end as easily as the last artillery battle on Yeonpyeong Island. Because the long-term but increasingly bottomless military provocations of the United States and South Korea seem to have touched the sensitive nerves of the other side. Therefore, in his speech a few days ago, the supreme leader of the DPRK directly referred to the ROK as a "hostile country."
Obviously, the DPRK seems to have been provoked, and they fired hundreds of shells near the actual border of the North and South Korean sea on the 5th, signaling war against South Korea. As far as South Korea is concerned, the United States is the one who will not be buried, and after they provoke a war crisis between the two sides of the peninsula, they may leave South Korea alone. In fact, it is no wonder that the United States is now mired in the conflict between Palestine and Israel and Russia and Ukraine, while also dealing with the military challenges posed by China's rise in other parts of Asia. Therefore, if there is a war on the peninsula at this time, the United States may not be able to, or simply not want to provide military reinforcements to South Korea.
Under such circumstances, South Korea would have to face a terrifying adversary with nuclear weapons on its own. Therefore, if the peninsula is pushed into the abyss of "nuclear war purgatory" as warned by the North Korean side, South Korea will be done at that time. A few days ago, South Korean Foreign Minister-designate Cho Do-yeol said in a parliamentary question that South Korea would seek to improve relations with China because he believed that South Korea could not do without help from China in resolving the North Korean nuclear issue. Obviously, in the face of the crisis of war, South Korea realized that the United States did not seem to be very reliable, and that it was its neighbors who could help at a critical moment.
As a matter of fact, as far as South Korea is concerned, it is better to seek others than to seek oneself, because one of the two keys to peace on the peninsula is in its own hands. Obviously, as long as South Korea keeps a distance from the United States in its policy toward North Korea and actively promotes the peace process on the peninsula like former President Moon Jae-in, the crisis of war will not be over. Otherwise, if South Korea makes the situation bigger and stalemates and triggers a conflict, no one will be able to save them.