N. Korea's artillery shells fell near de facto maritime border: source
Coastal artillery bunkers in North Korea are seen from an observatory on Yeonpyeong Island, a South Korean border island in the West Sea, Jan. 7. Yonhap
Some of the artillery shells recently fired by the North Korean military fell just above the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea, a military source said Sunday, stoking tension on the tensely guarded western border, where past naval skirmishes have taken place.
North Korea fired some 200 artillery shells from its southwestern coastal areas Friday, prompting the South Korean troops on the front-line islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong to stage live-fire drills in response.
Most of the North Korean shells splashed into the maritime buffer zone, with some falling in waters as close as 7 kilometers north of the NLL, according to the source.
The latest saber-rattling came after Pyongyang in November vowed to restore military measures halted under a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, which set up buffer zones in land, sea and air and banned live-fire drills near the border area to prevent accidental clashes.
"As North Korea vowed to scrap the inter-Korean military pact and conducted live-fire drills near the maritime buffer zone, mutually agreed buffer zones that ban hostile acts no longer exist," a military official said, asking for anonymity.
The South Korean military is considering taking corresponding measures when North Korea's artillery shells cross the NLL or land near the de facto maritime border, according to the official.
North Korea's Friday artillery firing marked the 16th one of its kind, including a missile launch in December 2022. The South Korean military conducted live-fire drills near the maritime buffer zone for the first time since the signing of the 2018 pact.
On Saturday, the North carried out live-fire drills for the second consecutive day to fire around 60 shells from the western coast, which landed in the maritime buffer zone above the NLL, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
The South Korean military didn't conduct live-fire drills in response, considering them less threatening compared with Friday's exercise, military officials said.
On Sunday, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, claimed the North conducted a "deceptive operation" by detonating explosives simulating the sound of 130 millimeters coastal artillery the previous day, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
The vice department director of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee said the deceptive operation was aimed at exposing the South Korean military's detection capability, warning of "immediate actions" if the South provokes.
In response, the JCS called Kim's statement on the South Korean military's detection capability "psychological warfare," urging the North to cease acts that escalate tension in the border area.
Naval skirmishes between South and North Korea took place near the western maritime border in 1999, 2002 and 2009.
In 2010, North Korea fired a barrage of artillery shells on Yeonpyeong Island, killing two South Korean Marines and two civilians.
The North has contested the legitimacy of the NLL — drawn unilaterally by the U.S.-led U.N. Command after the 1950-53 Korean War — in recent decades and has demanded that it be redrawn, a request that the South has rejected. (Yonhap)
(责任编辑:新闻中心)
-
Military prosecutors indict intel official over leaking 'black agent' info
(Getty Images Bank)The defense ministry's prosecutors' office on Tuesday indicted a milita ...[详细] -
田雅春,市国土资源局一名普通工勤人员。他刚进入国土部门时,对专业技术工作是“两眼一抹黑”。短短几年时间,他成长为单位的业务技术骨干。在派往汉源县负责瀑电库区园地实物指标复核和征地测量工作期间,他勇挑重 ...[详细]
-
雅安日报讯 4月12日下午6点下班时间,荥经县交警大队车管所办证大厅仍有不少群众排队等候办证。该所民警坚持办公直到最后一位群众办好业务离开,已是晚上8点多。随着全市摩托车道路交通违法行为集中整治等一系 ...[详细]
-
助力产业大发展!甘薯产业技术暨轻骑兵服务能力培训班将举办_南方+_南方plus小小甘薯,大大财富!眼下正是甘薯播种的时节,具备得天独厚的甘薯种植条件的遂溪县,甘薯种植工作正如火如荼地进行着。甘薯产业发 ...[详细]
-
DOJ accuses TikTok of collecting and sharing users' personal views, as the app fights a ban
The U.S. Justice Department is standing its ground in the case for a TikTok ban, citing a national c ...[详细] -
捐献爱心雅安日报讯 20日,天全县教育局召开党委会,专题研究部署捐助玉树灾区工作,迅速在全县各校园)掀起了“心怀感恩·携手玉树·回报社会”的募捐活动。“正处在灾后恢复重建中的每一位教职工和学生家庭都比 ...[详细]
-
雅安日报讯 “我们将以‘作风建设提升年’活动为契机,严格执行‘首问负责制’‘限时办结制’‘责任追究制’三项制度,认真开展服务窗口建设和行风评议活动,优化办事环境,切实提高服务质量和服务水平,竭诚为广大 ...[详细]
-
□本报记者 刘颖不锈钢绞线器:不锈钢材质,体积较大,可以挎在肩上使用,是职业风筝手的“最爱”。不过这种绞线器价格较高,通常在100元—280元之间。弹子盘:质量较好,摔不碎,价格较低,有蓝、白两种颜色 ...[详细]
-
'Please find her': Man dies amid 25
Song Gil-yong speaks during a public campaign dedicated to finding his missing daughter, Hye-hee, in ...[详细] -
雅安日报讯 昨18)日,全省机动车驾驶员培训学校清理整顿检查组一行对石棉驾校的校园环境和设备设施进行了检查,对该校良好的人文环境和精良的硬件设施给予赞扬,并对石棉驾校未来的发展寄予厚望。据悉,此次全省 ...[详细]