South Korea to Suspend Peace Deal With North Korea Over Trash Balloons
TimeMay 28
South Korea Fires Warning Shots After North Korean Soldiers Cross Border
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Above: Barricades are placed near the Unification Bridge,which leads to the Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on June 11, 2024 in Paju, South Korea. Image copyright: Chung Sung-Jun/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced on Tuesday that some North Korean soldiers "briefly crossed the Military Demarcation Line" into the South on Sunday, with the South issuing "warning broadcasts and warning shots" with North Korean soldiers retreating.
The JCS claimed that some 20 North Korean soldiers crossed the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) somewhere in the middle of the border, adding that it was likely unintentional. Pyongyang has not yet commented on the incident.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
King Jong Un's border tactics have only hurt North and South Koreans' chances of finding peace. His garbage balloon stunt, for example, is not only seen as a provocation by the South but as utterly useless by his own citizens. Even Kim's authoritarian predecessors wouldn't have engaged in such tactics, but the North is now, unfortunately, running a regime willing to spark conflict instead of ease tensions.
Establishment-critical narrative
Many of the regional news outlets covering North Korea are directly paid for by the CIA-funded National Endowment for Democracy. These original reports are then picked up by Western papers and distributed to the rest of the world. While our attention is turned toward garbage balloons and loud speakers, the real propaganda preventing peace is being curated by US intelligence agencies operating out of newsrooms.
