Seoul, South Korea: North Korea fired about 100 more artillery shells seaward on Wednesday in response to South Korean live-firing exercises in border areas, as rivals accuse each other of escalating tensions Korean Peninsula With weapons testing.
The exercises by both sides come amid heightened hostility over recent North Korean missile tests, which it calls fake nuclear strikes on South Korean and US targets.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that South Korean forces detected artillery firing from a western North Korean coastal city. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier that on Tuesday night, North Korea fired about 100 rounds off its west coast and 150 rounds on the east coast.
both days, North Korean shells According to the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the two Koreas landed in the northern parts of the maritime buffer zone as part of agreements signed in 2018 to de-escalate tensions.
North Korea also fired hundreds of shells into the buffer zone on Friday in its most significant direct violation of the 2018 accord.
North Korea’s military said earlier this week the launch was a warning against provocative South Korean artillery firing exercises along the border.
“Our military gives a stern warning to enemy forces to immediately stop highly provocative provocations in border areas,” an unnamed spokesman for the General Staff of North Korea’s People’s Army said in a statement on Wednesday.
South Korea’s defense ministry said it conducted artillery drills in land border areas as part of its annual military exercises. But he said his exercise did not violate the 2018 agreement as his shells did not land in the buffer zone.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff warned North Korea to immediately stop provocations that threaten peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. It said it was ramping up its military preparedness and closely monitoring North Korea’s moves in coordination with the United States.
There is no report of violence between the two Koreas. But animosity may persist as North Korea will react to South Korea’s ongoing annual ‘Hoguk’ field exercise with a weapons test of its own. South Korean officials said the Hoguk exercise was aimed at improving military preparedness against North Korean nuclear and missile threats and involved an unspecified number of US troops.
North Korea regularly sees South Korea-US military training As an attack rehearsal. It said its recent missile tests were intended to issue a warning to the Allies in one of the first exercises involving a US aircraft carrier.
In parts of the ‘Hoguk’ exercise open to the media, South Korean and US troops built floating bridges over the river southeast of Seoul to allow tanks and other armored vehicles to be carried over them. South Korea’s military said Wednesday’s training was to deal with an imaginary enemy attack that would destroy some of the bridges over the river.
“It has been extremely successful so far and has demonstrated the strength of the ROK-US alliance,” said Captain Sean Kasprisin, a US Army company commander, using the initials of South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea. “We are definitely stronger together with both countries.”
From October 31 to November 4, South Korea and the United States will also conduct joint air force exercises involving about 240 warplanes, including F-35 fighter jets operated by both countries. The South Korean military said on Tuesday that the exercise was designed to inspect the joint operations capabilities of the two countries and improve combat preparedness.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a briefing on Wednesday that Beijing expected all relevant countries to continue to seek political solutions to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea has test-launched 15 missiles since resuming testing activities on September 25. One of them was an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan and demonstrated a range capable of reaching the Pacific region of Guam and beyond.
Some foreign experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un The goal would eventually be to use its expanding arsenal of weapons to pressure the United States and others to accept their country as a legitimate nuclear state and lift economic sanctions on the North.
North Korea’s artillery tests receive less outside attention than its missile launches. But its forward-positioned long-range artillery in Seoul, about 40 to 50 kilometers (25 to 30 mi) from the North Korean border, pose a serious security threat.
The exercises by both sides come amid heightened hostility over recent North Korean missile tests, which it calls fake nuclear strikes on South Korean and US targets.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that South Korean forces detected artillery firing from a western North Korean coastal city. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier that on Tuesday night, North Korea fired about 100 rounds off its west coast and 150 rounds on the east coast.
both days, North Korean shells According to the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the two Koreas landed in the northern parts of the maritime buffer zone as part of agreements signed in 2018 to de-escalate tensions.
North Korea also fired hundreds of shells into the buffer zone on Friday in its most significant direct violation of the 2018 accord.
North Korea’s military said earlier this week the launch was a warning against provocative South Korean artillery firing exercises along the border.
“Our military gives a stern warning to enemy forces to immediately stop highly provocative provocations in border areas,” an unnamed spokesman for the General Staff of North Korea’s People’s Army said in a statement on Wednesday.
South Korea’s defense ministry said it conducted artillery drills in land border areas as part of its annual military exercises. But he said his exercise did not violate the 2018 agreement as his shells did not land in the buffer zone.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff warned North Korea to immediately stop provocations that threaten peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. It said it was ramping up its military preparedness and closely monitoring North Korea’s moves in coordination with the United States.
There is no report of violence between the two Koreas. But animosity may persist as North Korea will react to South Korea’s ongoing annual ‘Hoguk’ field exercise with a weapons test of its own. South Korean officials said the Hoguk exercise was aimed at improving military preparedness against North Korean nuclear and missile threats and involved an unspecified number of US troops.
North Korea regularly sees South Korea-US military training As an attack rehearsal. It said its recent missile tests were intended to issue a warning to the Allies in one of the first exercises involving a US aircraft carrier.
In parts of the ‘Hoguk’ exercise open to the media, South Korean and US troops built floating bridges over the river southeast of Seoul to allow tanks and other armored vehicles to be carried over them. South Korea’s military said Wednesday’s training was to deal with an imaginary enemy attack that would destroy some of the bridges over the river.
“It has been extremely successful so far and has demonstrated the strength of the ROK-US alliance,” said Captain Sean Kasprisin, a US Army company commander, using the initials of South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea. “We are definitely stronger together with both countries.”
From October 31 to November 4, South Korea and the United States will also conduct joint air force exercises involving about 240 warplanes, including F-35 fighter jets operated by both countries. The South Korean military said on Tuesday that the exercise was designed to inspect the joint operations capabilities of the two countries and improve combat preparedness.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a briefing on Wednesday that Beijing expected all relevant countries to continue to seek political solutions to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula.
North Korea has test-launched 15 missiles since resuming testing activities on September 25. One of them was an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan and demonstrated a range capable of reaching the Pacific region of Guam and beyond.
Some foreign experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un The goal would eventually be to use its expanding arsenal of weapons to pressure the United States and others to accept their country as a legitimate nuclear state and lift economic sanctions on the North.
North Korea’s artillery tests receive less outside attention than its missile launches. But its forward-positioned long-range artillery in Seoul, about 40 to 50 kilometers (25 to 30 mi) from the North Korean border, pose a serious security threat.