North Korea Fires Over 130 Artillery Rounds as Warning Amid US-South Korea Military Drill
North Korea fired more than 130 naval shells into its sea boundaries early on Monday in retaliation for South Korea executing a joint military drill with the United States, according to the Korean People’s Army (KPA).
An unidentified spokesperson for the KPA said in a statement that the barrage of artillery shells was fired between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. local time from multiple rocket launchers off its east and west coasts in what the official described as a “tit-for-tat” move, state-run KCNA news agency reported.
North Korea said it conducted its firing after detecting dozens of “projectiles” fired from South Korea near the shared border of the two Koreas, a claim denied by South Korea.
“The KPA General Staff makes it clear once again that it will settle accounts with all provocative actions of the enemy one by one and will always counter them with staunch and overwhelming military action,” the spokesperson said.
“The enemy side would be well advised to immediately stop their military action of escalating tension in the immediate vicinity of the front where it is within eyeshot,” he added. “We severely warn the enemy side to be prudent, not kindling the flame of escalation of tension unnecessary in the area around the front.”
South Korea said the artillery launch violated the 2018 inter-Korean agreement designed to reduce hostile military activities between the two Koreas because some of the shells landed within a maritime buffer zone near the sea border.
The 2018 Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) was the most substantive deal to come from the months of meetings between leader Kim Jong Un and then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
In response to the firing, South Korea has sent several warning communications to North Korea, the ministry of defense said in a statement, without giving any further details.
https://www.ntd.com/north-korea-fires-over-130-artillery-rounds-as-warning-amid-us-south-korea-military-drill_886244.html