How North Korea responded to South's political turmoil

In the week since South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's abortive declaration of martial law, Pyongyang has been uncharacteristically silent.

Normally, any hints of public dissent aimed at the government in the South are quickly seized upon by North Korean state media as evidence of the corruption and incompetence that blights the South's democratic system and its leaders.

Between Yoon's declaration of martial law on the evening of December 3 and early this week, however, the North ignored the opportunity to mock its neighbor and ideological rival and to emphasize the superiority of North Korean-style socialism.

Instead, coverage by the state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) has focused on more mundane domestic issues, such as the opening of a condiments factory and a youth group taking part in an "oath-taking meeting.”

Analysts admit they were puzzled at the North's immediate failure to get in some propaganda jabs, particularly the chance to target Yoon, who has taken a far firmer line against the North than his more liberal predecessor.

Yoon's martial law declaration claimed he was being forced to act due to "anti-state" and "North Korean communist forces" within the ranks of his domestic political opposition.

Why did the North stay quiet?

Some have suggested that the regime in Pyongyang opted not to show footage of the South Korean public protesting en masse against the government out of concern that it might encourage the unhappy citizens of North Korea to try something similar.

Others believe the North feared that unrest in the South might result in the under-pressure South Korean government attempting to focus the public's attention elsewhere and provoke a security incident involving the North. In preparation, Pyongyang has focused all its energies on preparing for some sort of confrontation.

Another theory for North Korea's silence is rooted in Pyongyang's announcement in late 2023 that it was altering its constitution to reflect its position that the South was now seen as a "belligerent state" and that relations would henceforth be between "two hostile states." This was a step change from looking at the two Koreas as a single homogenous people that would one day be reunited.

Framed this way, Pyongyang apparently felt that it did not need to comment on the South's political crisis, said Andrei Lankov, a Russian-born professor of history and international relations at Seoul's Kookmin University.

"Almost every weekend since Yoon has been in power, there have been large demonstrations in Seoul against his government," he told DW. "And every time there was a rally, the North Korean media would report on it. That did not happen after the protests after he declared martial law, and I think that was partly because the North wanted to see what was going to happen."

South Korea 'just another country'

"But there has also been a gradual reduction in the amount of coverage the North provides to its people in state media because they do not want to focus their attention on the South, they want to position the South as 'just another' country," Lankov said.

Goo Gap-woo, a professor of diplomacy at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, agrees Pyongyang is actively pursuing a policy of distancing itself from any form of contact with its southern neighbor.

"The North is usually very quick to mention the 'puppet South Korean regime' and so on whenever there is social unrest, and I was surprised that they said nothing about the demonstrations this time," he told DW. "I can only think that this is more evidence that they do not want to have anything to do with the South after Kim Jong Un's 'two Koreas' declaration last year.

"In particular they do not want to become involved in any conflict on the Korean Peninsula," he added, which might be militarily testing given the amount of munitions and troops that the North has contributed to the Russian forces currently fighting in Ukraine.

Goo also played down suggestions that the North delayed releasing news of the turmoil in the South out of concern that it could convince some of Kim Jong Un's citizens to similarly resist their leaders.

"I do not think the government there consider the impact of reports about events in the South on the North," he said. "I think it is more likely that Pyongyang is more focused on trying to separate and distance itself from the South."

North Korea breaks silence

Ultimately, however, the North apparently realized it could not remain silent. On Wednesday, KCNA reported the events in South Korea, with its usual invective tone. 

"The shocking incident of the puppet Yoon Suk Yeol regime [...] suddenly declaring martial law and unhesitatingly wielding the guns and knives of its fascist dictatorship wrought havoc across South Korea," said a report.

The report described the South Korean military as a "gangster organization," claiming Yoon's actions were "a disaster" and that the South Korean public was calling for his immediate impeachment and punishment.

The report was accompanied by around 20 photos, although the images did not show South Korean civilians resisting the military outside the parliament.

Edited by: Wesley Rahn