Tensions between North Korea and South Korea increased on Friday after North Korea fired more than 200 artillery projectiles close to a disputed sea boundary. In response, the South held its own live-fire drills. North Korea asserted that their fire exercises were a “natural reaction” to the “military gangsters” in South Korea’s recent military actions. Additionally, it threatened Seoul with a “unmatched strong response” if it continued to act hostilely.
Following a military order from the South, residents of two remote South Korean islands bordering the western sea needed to escape to bomb shelters before the South began firing live bullets at the disputed Northern Limit Line (NLL) border. According to the South Korean military, no soldiers nor civilians were harmed by North Korea’s firing. After supervising the shooting drills, South Korea’s Defense Minister Shin Won-sik declared: “This is a provocative act that heightens tension and endangers peace on the Korean peninsula.”
Yeonpyeong island is 3 km (2 miles) from the disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea and 12 km from the coast of North Korea. It is home to a military base and a tiny civilian population of roughly 2,000 people.
Over the years, it has been the site of naval confrontations between the Koreas.
2010 saw North Korea fire scores of artillery projectiles towards the island, killing two troops and two civilians.
China calls for ‘restraint’
Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters on Friday, “We appeal to all involved parties to keep calm and restrained, to refrain from actions that heighten tensions, to stop further escalation of the situation and to create opportunities for the resumption of meaningful dialogue.”
“China and North Korea are close allies.”Conflicts between important parties have been worse recently, and the situation on the peninsula has been stressful,” Wang stated.
This week, in yet another display of bellicose rhetoric directed against Seoul and Washington, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his military to “completely destroy” the United States and South Korea should they initiate a military fight.
After decades of difficult relations, the relationship between the two Koreas is at its worst.
North Korea has recently stepped up its military and nuclear threats, successfully launching a spy satellite on its third attempt in November and testing its most sophisticated long-range missile, the Hwasong-18, for the third time in 2023.”
SUMMARY
- Over 200 artillery projectiles fired by North Korea land north of the border.
- South Korea claims to have responded “correspondingly.”
- The military of North Korea promises a “unprecedented strong response,” and the maritime frontier has seen fatal confrontations in the past.
Sources:
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