In yet another sign of hostilities between the rival nations, North Korea fired more than 200 artillery rounds on Friday close to a disputed maritime boundary with South Korea. The South responded with "corresponding" live fire drills.
Following the exchange, the South Korean military ordered the residents of two isolated South Korean islands on the western maritime boundary to flee to bomb shelters before firing live rounds into the disputed Northern Limit Line (NLL) border.
The firing by North Korea caused no civilian or military damage in the South, South Korea’s military said.
“This is an act of provocation that escalates tension and threatens peace on the Korean peninsula,” South Korea’s Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said as he supervised the firing drills.
The North Korean artillery shells all landed on the northern side of the sea border, a South Korean military spokesman Lee Sung-joon said in a news briefing, adding that the South Korean military has been monitoring the North’s moves along its shores with the cooperation of the US military.
Following the exchange, the South Korean military ordered the residents of two isolated South Korean islands on the western maritime boundary to flee to bomb shelters before firing live rounds into the disputed Northern Limit Line (NLL) border.
The firing by North Korea caused no civilian or military damage in the South, South Korea’s military said.
“This is an act of provocation that escalates tension and threatens peace on the Korean peninsula,” South Korea’s Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said as he supervised the firing drills.
The North Korean artillery shells all landed on the northern side of the sea border, a South Korean military spokesman Lee Sung-joon said in a news briefing, adding that the South Korean military has been monitoring the North’s moves along its shores with the cooperation of the US military.
