Deutsche Welle :
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.
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.
