This undated picture released by North Korea’s official news agency KCNA on December 19, 2023 shows the test launch of a Hwasongpho-18 intercontinental ballistic missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea [File: KCNA via KNS/AFP]
Published January 7, 2024
Pyongyang conducts live-fire drills close to its coast for the third time in a row as it threatens Seoul.
North Korea has threatened an immediate military strike against South Korea in response to any “provocation”.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister and key ally of leader Kim Jong Un, made the threat on Sunday, as Pyongyang reportedly fired artillery shells near its border with South Korea for the third day in a row.
The remarks follow South Korean military reports that said the North had fired more than 60 artillery rounds on Saturday near their disputed maritime border.
A similar volley of more than 200 rounds was reported the previous day. North Korea fired more than 90 rounds on Sunday, according to the South.
“The North Korean military has been conducting the drills north of the South Korean front-line island of Yeonpyeong since about 4pm [07:00 GMT],” the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported, citing a military source.
Kim Yo Jong, one of the most powerful members of Kim Jong Un’s government, said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA that the safety catch on the trigger of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) had already been slipped.
“As already declared, the KPA will launch an immediate military strike if the enemy makes even a slight provocation,” Kim said.
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SOURCE: www.aljazeera.com
RELATED: N. Korea conducts more military drills near S. Korean border island
North Korea was conducting live-fire drills on its western coast, the Yonhap news agency reported Sunday, the third consecutive day of military exercises near the contested maritime border with the South.
South Korean marines walk past a shelter sign in a village on Yeonpyeong island, near the Northern Limit Line sea boundary with North Korea, on January 6, 2024. © Jung Yeon-Je, AFP
Published January 7, 2024
“N. Korea conducting live-fire drills on western coast: S. Korean military,” Yonhap reported.
“The North Korean military has been conducting the drills north of the South Korean front-line island of Yeonpyeong since around 4 pm (0700 GMT),” it reported, citing a military source.
There no North Korean artillery shells had fallen south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de-facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea, and no casualties had been reported, it added.
Residents on the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong were warned to stay inside Sunday, local officials told AFP, due to the drills and any possible South Korean countermeasures.
“North Korean gunfire is currently being heard,” said a text message sent to all residents Sunday afternoon, details of which were confirmed to AFP by local officials.
“Troops on Yeonpyeong Island are currently responding, but residents are advised to be careful of outdoor activities,” the message said.
On both Friday and Saturday, North Korea fired artillery rounds in the same area — near Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong, two sparsely populated islands situated just south of a de-facto maritime border between the two sides.
On Friday, residents of the two islands were ordered to evacuate to shelters and ferries were suspended during one of the most serious military escalations on the peninsula since Pyongyang fired shells at one of the islands in 2010.
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SOURCE: www.france24.com
RELATED: N. Korea conducts live-fire drills near maritime border
A handout photo made available by South Korea’s Ministry of Defense shows a South Korea’s K1E1 tank firing a shell during live-fire drills on the northwestern border island of Baengnyeong, South Korea, January 5, 2024. Handout/South Korean Ministry of Defense via EPA-EFE
Published January 7, 2024
SEOUL, South Korea (UPDATED) — North Korea conducted live-fire drills on its western coast, Seoul’s military said Sunday, the third consecutive day of military exercises near its contested maritime border with the South.
Seoul’s military said that North Korea had “conducted artillery fire with over 90 rounds north of Yeonpyeong island from 1600 to 1710 (0400 to 0510 GMT) today”.
They accused the North of “repeated artillery fire” within a buffer zone created in 2018 under a now-defunct tension-reducing deal, saying the bombardment posed “a threat to the peace on the Korean Peninsula.”
North Korea’s military said it had carried out “maritime live-fire training” with 88 rounds of artillery but said the drills were “directionally unrelated” to the maritime border.
The exercises “did not pose any intentional threat” to South Korea and were part of the North’s “normal training system of our military,” it said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
No North Korean artillery shells fell south of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea, and no casualties were reported, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Residents on the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong were warned to stay inside Sunday, local officials told AFP, due to the drills and any possible South Korean countermeasures.
“North Korean gunfire is currently being heard,” said a text message sent to all residents Sunday afternoon.
“Troops on Yeonpyeong Island are currently responding, but residents are advised to be careful of outdoor activities,” said the message, details of which were confirmed to AFP by local officials.
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SOURCE: www.news.abs-cbn.com
