Be Prepared for North Korea's Large-scale Military Confrontation

Kim Jong Un is confronted with various internal challenges such as natural disasters, food shortages, and a struggling economy, which pose a significant threat to the credibility of his regime.

In an attempt to divert North Korean people's anger and dissatisfaction away from himself, Kim Jong Un has been executing his officials as scapegoats. However, this tactic is unlikely to appease the population. That is why the regime has kept sending trash balloons to the South to escalate tensions in the region, aiming to make South Korea as another scapegoat. This pattern is expected to persist with increased frequency and intensity, possibly culminating in a significant escalation of conflict.

Kim's potential move towards military confrontation with the South is caused by his deep sense of insecurity at this point, not necessarily from outside but from inside. Not only the ordinary citizens, but even the North Korean elite, appear to be fed up with the Kim regime. The recent increased number of the defection of the elite serves as compelling evidence.

Kim's mobilization of his army at the DMZ will be a sure sign of the level of instability in North Korea. When it happens, South Korea should not succumb to North Korea's military threat, nor to the efforts of a certain group of South Koreans to placate the North. Instead, they must remain resolute and ready to confront the situation, because the end of the Kim regime is imminent.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol presented a new vision for freedom-based unification on August 8th, the Liberation Day. As the saying goes, freedom is not free. The pathway to a free Korean Peninsula will require cost and sacrifice. However, if South Korea yields to its neighbor's threats, it will bring more devastating costs in the future.

In its military conflict with the South, North Korea might seek assistance from China and Russia. However, China and Russia are preoccupied with their own issues to the extent that they cannot provide the same level of support to North Korea as they did during the Korean War.

Regardless of the level of North Korea's military threats, it is important to remember that the current North Korean military is not as loyal to the Kim regime as in the days of Kim Jong Un's grandfather and father. More North Korean soldiers are defecting to the South these days, even risking their lives.

In light of this, the recent resumption of South Korea's loudspeaker broadcasts near the inter-Korean border serves as a powerful weapon to weaken the North Korean military, which must continue.

Even if North Korea continues to confront the South militarily with great effort, the Kim regime will eventually collapse from within as long as the South remains steadfast and promotes a message of freedom to the North.

To achieve freedom-based unification on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea must first resolve to fight and not retreat no matter the cost. It is crucial to be reminded again that freedom is not free.

Author: B.J. Choi, founder of NVNK, obtained his Master's degree in Asian Studies from the George Washington University. He previously worked for the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) on North Korea issues.