North Korea fired more than 60 projectiles near the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong

North Korea fired more than 60 projectiles near the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong

North Korea fired more than 60 projectiles near the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong on Saturday, the South Korean military announced, a day after an initial salvo from Pyongyang that triggered Seoul’s response with a munitions drill in the region.

“North Korean forces fired more than 60 projectiles” near Yeonpyeong Island “between approximately 4 and 5 pm” (07:00 and 08:00 GMT), the South Korean Army General Staff said , warning Pyongyang against a continuation of these outbursts.

On Friday, North Korea fired more than 200 projectiles into the Yellow Sea near the two South Korean islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong, located just south of the de facto maritime border between the two countries.

Yeonpyeong, which has about 2,000 inhabitants, is located about 115 km west of Seoul and about ten kilometers south of the North Korean coast.

Also very close to North Korea, Baengnyeong, 4,900 inhabitants, is located about 210 km west of the South Korean capital.

Friday’s shooting caused no casualties or damage, according to Seoul. Residents were ordered to shelter in place and ferry services linking the islands to the rest of South Korea were suspended.

– New escalation –

It was the largest escalation on the peninsula since the North Korean military bombed Yeonpyeong in 2010 in response to a South Korean live ammunition drill near the border.

This first North Korean attack against civilians since the Korean War (1950-1953) resulted in four deaths, two soldiers and two civilians. The artillery duel had lasted about an hour, with each side firing around 200 shells.

The new escalation comes after a series of belligerent statements by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who in recent days threatened to “annihilate” South Korea and the United States.

On both Saturday and Friday, North Korean projectiles landed in one of the buffer zones created in 2018 as part of an agreement between the two neighbors aimed at preventing military incidents on the border. In these areas it was forbidden to shoot with live ammunition.

But Seoul partially suspended the deal last November to protest Pyongyang’s launch of a spy satellite, and the North rejected the entire deal soon after.

– “Threat to peace” –

South Korea’s military said Saturday that “repeated” North Korean artillery fire in the area “poses a threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula.”

He issued “a stern warning” and called on North Korea to stop immediately, assuring that “in response, our military will take appropriate measures to safeguard the country.”

“North Korea, after announcing the total cancellation of the military agreement of September 19 (2018, ed.) continues to threaten our citizens with continuous artillery fire within the zone where hostile acts are prohibited,” they insisted the army.

North Korea said on Friday that its bombing near the two islands constituted “a natural response and countermeasure” to military exercises carried out by Seoul, according to the official KCNA news agency.

South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, for his part, denounced “an act of provocation that threatens peace on the Korean peninsula and aggravates tensions”.

The South Korean military will take “immediate, strong and definitive retaliatory measures: we must support peace with overwhelming force,” he added.

North Korea in turn ordered South Korea not to “commit any provocation under the pretext of a so-called countermeasure”, according to the KCNA agency. He threatened “a harsh countermeasure on an unprecedented level.”

China, an ally of North Korea, called on “all parties to exercise calm and restraint”.

Washington, for its part, called on North Korea “to refrain from any further destabilizing and provocative actions and to resume diplomacy.”

In late December, Kim Jong Un ordered the acceleration of military preparations for a “war” that could “be launched at any time.”

Last year, North Korea enshrined its status as a nuclear power in its constitution and launched several intercontinental ballistic missiles, in violation of United Nations resolutions.

The two Koreas have still technically been at war since the end of the conflict on the peninsula in 1953, which ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

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2024-01-06 13:22:12
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