North Korea appears to have deployed troops to some empty guard posts(GP) inside the Demilitarized Zone(DMZ), having warned that it would increase its military presence along the border.

According to military sources on Thursday, soldiers were observed being dispatched to several empty GPs inside the buffer zone from Wednesday afternoon.

There are believed to be around 150 such posts in the North, some of which were vacated following an inter-Korean military agreement in 2018.

It's not yet clear whether the move is part of the North's retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns in the South, or of a previously announced elevation of the state of readiness for frontline troops.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) has said the North will pay a price if it launches provocative military action against the South.

[Photo : YONHAP News]