![[Exclusive] North Korea distancing from South Korea since martial law: NIS chief nominee](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwimg.heraldcorp.com%2Fnews%2Fcms%2F2025%2F06%2F17%2Frcv.YNA.20250604.PYH2025060419980001300_T1.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
[Exclusive] North Korea distancing from South Korea since martial law: NIS chief nominee
South Korea's spy chief nominee Lee Jong-seok said Tuesday that North Korea appears to be keeping a strategic distance from the South since the martial law debacle last December.
Lee said in a written response submitted to the National Assembly that the pause in North Korea's trash balloon offensives and political commentaries aimed at Seoul seems to be part of its distancing policy.
"North Korea has been thoroughly keeping its distance from and ignoring South Korea since the martial law declaration at the end of last year," Lee said. "North Korea has not shown a reaction to the recent anti-Pyongyang leafleting by South Korean civilian organizations, for instance, which is rare."
Lee noted that North Korea has also refrained from commenting on South Korea's political situation.
"On the South Korean political situation, North Korea is opting for fact-based, brief statements rather than commentaries. North Korean reports have refrained from reacting to announcements of the new South Korean administration's nominations of foreign and security officials," Lee said.
North Korea's shift in stance after the short-lived declaration of martial law contrasts with its series of offensives throughout the previous year.
After declaring the inter-Korean relationship one of "two hostile countries" in late 2023, North Korea blew up roads and railways connecting to the South and sent trash-filled balloons toward the South.
Lee said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's daughter Ju-ae is his likely successor, but noted that she doesn't appear to have been formally nominated yet.
"There are many variables at play including Ju-ae's young age, Kim Jong-un's other children and the North's patriarchal culture," Lee said.
Lee has to go through the National Assembly's confirmation hearing on Thursday before he is appointed.
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