North Korea fires artillery shells near border with South Korea

SEOUL, Oct. 19 (BNA) North Korea fired artillery shells near its sea border with South Korea late Tuesday, a day after South Korea began annual military exercises to better deal with North Korean provocations.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement early Wednesday that North Korea fired about 100 shells off its west coast and 150 rounds off its east coast. She said the South Korean military has broadcast messages several times asking North Korea for a ceasefire, but there were no reports of violence between the two rivals, according to the Associated Press.

The South Korean military said the projectiles did not land in South Korea’s territorial waters but landed inside the northern part of the maritime buffer zones established by the two Koreas under a 2018 inter-Korean accord aimed at reducing front-line hostilities.

This is the second time that North Korea has fired missiles into the buffer zones since last Friday, when it fired hundreds of missiles, there in its most direct violation of the 2018 agreement.

The South Korean military said that North Korea should stop provocations that undermine peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. It added that it is strengthening its military readiness and, in coordination with the United States, is closely monitoring North Korea’s movements.

Hours later, a spokesperson for the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army issued a statement describing the recent artillery fire as a response to South Korean artillery exercises that allegedly took place earlier on Tuesday in a border area. Seoul did not immediately confirm that it conducted such artillery exercises on Tuesday.

“The enemies must immediately stop the reckless and inflammatory provocations that lead to an escalation of military tension in the frontal region,” the North Korean military spokesman said.

The North Korean spokesman also criticized the South Korean military for starting its annual 12-day field exercises on Monday, calling it a rehearsal for the invasion. The South Korean Defense Ministry said the exercises are aimed at improving operational capabilities to counter various types of North Korean provocations and that an unspecified number of US forces will participate in the exercises this year.

North Korea’s artillery tests attract less outside attention than its missile launches. But its forward-deployed long-range artillery guns pose a serious security threat to South Korea’s densely populated urban area, which lies about 40 to 50 kilometers (25 to 30 miles) from the border with North Korea.

In recent weeks, North Korea has conducted a series of weapons tests in what it described as simulating nuclear strikes on South Korean and US targets in response to its “dangerous military exercises” on a US aircraft carrier. North Korea views regular military exercises between Washington and Seoul as training for invasion.

North Korea has conducted 15 missile tests since resuming testing activities on September 25. One was a medium-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan and demonstrated a range capable of reaching US Pacific territory at Guam and beyond.

Some foreign experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will ultimately aim to use his expanding arsenal of weapons to pressure the United States and others to accept his country as a legitimate nuclear state and lift economic sanctions on North Korea.

HF