North Korea fired hundreds of artillery shells into its eastern and western waters, while South Korea held annual defense exercises aimed at improving its ability to respond to North Korean nuclear and missile threats.
North Korea fired a total of nearly 250 shells into its eastern and western waters late on the 18th, and an additional 100 shells have been fired since noon on the 19th, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that the shells did not land in South Korean territorial waters, but in the maritime buffer zone delineated by the “September 19 Military Agreement” reached between the two Koreas in 2018 to reduce front-line hostility. .
It was the second time North Korea fired artillery shells into the buffer zone since it fired hundreds of artillery shells into the buffer zone last Friday, in its worst act in direct violation of a 2018 agreement.
“We strongly urge North Korea to immediately stop its actions,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
“North Korea’s continued provocative behavior is an act that undermines the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the international community,” the statement added.
A spokesman for the Korean People’s Army said on the 19th that North Korea fired the artillery shells to issue a “serious warning” to South Korea in response to South Korea’s artillery training in the eastern border area earlier on the 18th. But Seoul did not immediately confirm whether it had carried out any such launches.
South Korea’s “national protection military exercise” scheduled to end on Saturday is the latest in a series of military exercises South Korea has conducted in recent weeks, in addition to joint military exercises with the United States and Japan.
The Korean People’s Army General Staff said South Korea’s “war exercises against North Korea are going on in a frantic manner.”
North Korea said in a statement issued by the Korean Central News Agency, “In order to once again issue a solemn warning, North Korea confirmed that its people’s army troops on the eastern and western fronts conducted threatening warning shots into the eastern and western waters on the evening of October 18, And that’s a strong military response.”
“The enemy should immediately cease reckless and inciting provocations to prevent an escalation of military tensions in the frontline area.”
North Korea’s artillery test has received less outside attention than its missile test. But its long-range artillery, deployed in forward areas about 40 to 50 kilometers from the North Korean border, pose a serious security threat to South Korea’s densely populated metropolitan areas.
In recent weeks, North Korea has conducted a series of weapons tests it says are simulating nuclear strikes on targets in South Korea and the United States in response to South Korea and the United States using advanced weapons, including a U.S. aircraft carrier. “Dangerous Military Exercises”. North Korea sees regular military exercises between the United States and South Korea as a kind of “invasion drill”.
Since North Korea resumed testing activities on September 25 this year, it has tested 15 missiles. One was an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan and is believed to reach the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and beyond.
Missile launches and nuclear tests
North Korea has conducted more than 200 missile tests and six nuclear tests since 1984. At least half of the tests have been conducted since 2016 under the auspices of North Korea’s current supreme leader, Kim Jong Un (Al Jazeera)
The Japanese government imposed a new round of sanctions on North Korea on the 18th, targeting five institutions, including the North Korean Rocket Industry Ministry and four trading companies.
“North Korea continues to launch a series of provocative actions at a high frequency, such as the launch of 23 ballistic missiles this year,” Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshihito said when announcing the new sanctions.
He also added that North Korea’s actions were “violent” and “totally unacceptable.”
South Korea also announced its first unilateral sanctions on North Korea in nearly five years, and on Friday blacklisted 15 North Korean individuals and 16 institutions involved in missile development.
Some foreign experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s ultimate goal will be to use his expanding arsenal to pressure the United States and other countries to recognize North Korea as a legitimate nuclear state and to lift economic sanctions against it. .