NK likely to continue provocations for greater leverage before elections

“Rather than having a direct influence on the general elections, the North appears to be seeking conflicts within South Korea and heightened tensions through the provocations so that it can improve its leverage in inter-Korean relations,” said Go Myong-hyun, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

Until the late 1990s, South Korean politics had concerns over the so-called "North Wind," which is a term referring to Seoul’s conservatives using Pyongyang’s provocations before major elections to affect the sense of security that South Korean people felt, thus persuading them to choose a conservative candidate.

Experts said the current situation is far from that, given that the Pyongyang regime detests the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration, nor is seeking talks with the liberal opposition. Rather, the North declared that unification was “impossible,” defining the South as “a hostile nation.”

“These days, the North seems to like neither South Korea’s ruling conservative party nor the liberal main opposition party,” Go said.

Read the full story and more from The Korea Times.