- North Korea fires artillery
- South Korea conducts live-fire exercises
- No damage or casualties reported
Seoul’s military has reported that North Korea launched over two hundred rounds of artillery projectiles towards Yeonpyeong island in the South, off its west coast.
South Korea issued a directive for civilians to seek refuge on the island before commencing its own live-fire exercises.
Although labelled a “provocative act” by the South, the North refuted any threat posed by its firing exercises to the islands.
On Yeonpyeong island in 2010, North Korean artillery discharged dozens of times, resulting in the deaths of four individuals.
All eleven artillery shells discharged on Friday between 09:00 and 11:00 local time (00:00 and 02:00 GMT) impacted within the buffer zone separating the two countries, preventing their entry into South Korean territory.
The incident “caused no harm to our people or military,” according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea. However, they added that the action “threatens peace on the Korean peninsula and escalates tensions.”
The shelling occurs in response to Pyongyang’s threats that it was amassing a military armament in readiness for an imminent conflict on the peninsula.
Additionally, Baengnyeong and Daecheong authorities advised civilians to seek shelter.
“This morning’s resumption of North Korean artillery fire drills within the non-hostility zone is an act of provocation that threatens peace and escalates tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” said Shin Won-sik, the defence minister of South Korea, in a statement on Friday.
He stated that our military must be prepared to annihilate the enemy entirely so that they will not be able to provoke another conflict, and that they must maintain momentum through sheer strength.
His ministry reported that no Northerly movements were detected during South Korea’s exercises.
Later, KCNA, the North’s official news agency, stated that its firing exercises off the west coast were a “natural reaction” to its neighbour’s massive military actions.
North Korea’s Agreement Fallout
In an effort to repair relations, the North ended a military deal with the South months before the latest incident.
The agreement began to deteriorate in November when Pyongyang asserted that it had successfully launched a surveillance satellite into space. As a result, South Korea announced that it would recommence surveillance flights along the border and partially suspend the agreement.
Subsequently, Pyongyang declared that it would discontinue all “preventive measures against military conflict in all domains, including the air, sea, and ground” and instead station “military hardware of a new generation and more formidable armed forces” in the border region.
In contrast, North Korea had breached the treaty for two years by shooting missiles and artillery into the South Sea. December 2022 marked the most recent occasion that North Korea discharged artillery projectiles into the sea. Nine such incidents occurred in that year alone.
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Consequently, some analysts contend that Pyongyang’s formal withdrawal from the agreement might not have a significant impact.
Jo Bee Yun of the Korea Institute for Defence Analysis stated, “The possibility of a limited collision has always existed due to the fact that North Korea was not complying with the agreement to begin with.”
Yeonpyeong island is inhabited by an estimated 2,000 civilians and a military base. It is 3 km from the disputed Yellow Sea maritime line and 12 km from North Korea.
Throughout the years, it has been the site of inter-Korean naval engagements.
Two soldiers and two civilians were slain when North Korea bombarded the island with dozens of artillery shells in 2010.
