Conflicts & War

Pyongyang continues to fire artillery in response to Seoul maneuvers

Seoul, Oct 19 (EFE).- North Korea fired several artillery rounds Wednesday near the inter-Korean border in response to maneuvers southern troops are carrying out in its territory until Oct. 28 and that reflect the current level of tension in the peninsula.

“(South Korea) detected that North Korea fired about 100 artillery rounds at around 12:30 (3:30 GMT) (…) from the coastal area of the Yeoman County in South Hwanghae Province to the West Sea,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

Pyongyang fired similar shots Tuesday in the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan and, as on Wednesday, artillery rounds ended up in waters next to the maritime borders that both countries delimited in a military agreement signed in 2018. The agreement promised to avoid maneuvers or exercises with live fire in said areas.

The JCS has once again insisted that this use of artillery is “a clear violation” of the military agreement.

A North Korean military spokesman said Wednesday that these practices with real fire are a response to “the repeated military provocations” that Seoul poses with its maneuvers.

This Monday South Korea began its annual Hoguk exercises, which will last until Oct. 28 and include the participation of units from the army, the air force, the navy and the marine corps, as well as some US troops.

Added to this are the large air maneuvers that Seoul and Washington are planning between Oct. 31 and Nov. 4 and the possibility that Pyongyang, which recently launched nine missile launches in a period of just 20 days, will carry out its first test. atomic since 2017.

North Korea, which has been completely isolated from the outside since the start of the pandemic and approved a weapons modernization plan in 2021, has refused to resume dialogue with South Korea or the United States. According to satellites, it has been prepared for months to do a new nuclear test in Punggye-ri. EFE

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