N.Korea's state media remains silent about martial law turmoil in S.Korea

Seoul (The Uttam Hindu): North Korea's state media on Thursday kept mum about South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived imposition of emergency martial law and its political repercussions. Yoon abruptly declared martial law late Tuesday, accusing the opposition of paralysing the government with "anti-state" activities. He lifted the decree hours after the National Assembly voted to reject it, Yonhap news agency reported.

As of 9 a.m., none of North Korea's state media, including the Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's main newspaper, and the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), had published any reports related to the martial law turmoil. The Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper targeting the domestic audience, also did not carry articles about South Korean protesters' anti-government rallies calling for Yoon's ouster in its Thursday edition. The paper has published such reports almost every day this month.

Experts said North Korea may try to use the martial law turmoil as a propaganda tool to arouse its people's animosity toward North Korea. In March 2017, the KCNA and the state-run Korean Central Television swiftly reported the impeachment of then-South Korean President Park Geun-hye, about two hours after the Constitutional Court upheld it. In May 2004, when the court rejected the parliamentary impeachment of then President Roh Moo-hyun, North Korea's state media carried a related press statement, issued by North Korea's committee in charge of inter-Korean affairs, two days after the court ruling.