PYONGYANG/SEOUL – A senior official of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday warned the Republic of Korea (ROK) not to interfere in the DPRK's fortification project along the southern border, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

Kim Yo-jong, department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, made the remarks in response to the latest ROK criticism from Kim Byung-joo, a special presidential adviser for defense policy, the report said.

Kim stressed the DPRK's strong resolve to press ahead with "the permanent project for the southern border," which she said is a "work of repairing the fence."

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The DPRK is not committing a "provocation" but taking a just reaction, she said.

"If the project for fortifying the southern border is completed, the danger of military conflict between the DPRK and the ROK will be considerably lowered and many complicated problems will be solved," Kim noted.

On Wednesday, she was quoted as saying in a KCNA report that "within October, the loudspeakers for psychological warfare against the ROK will be in operation along the whole border."

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She warned that if the ROK's warning shots along the border resulted in actual harm to the DPRK's territorial security or the safety of its service personnel, her country's border guards would show "no mercy."

Later on Wednesday, Kim Byung-joo criticized the DPRK side's threat to resume loudspeaker broadcasts and called on the country to apologize for its moves.  

ROK urges DPRK to return to dialogue

Meanwhile, ROK's defense ministry on Thursday urged the DPRK to return to the dialogue table to prevent accidental border clashes.

"To bridge the gap in perception and prevent accidental military clashes, DPRK must step forward to the dialogue table, and these actions must come to a halt," Defense Ministry spokesperson Chung Binna told a press briefing.

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Chung emphasized that the current reliance on public statements between the two Koreas indicated that all official inter-Korean military hotlines were completely severed.

The call came as tensions flared over cross-border psychological warfare.