South Korea’s military on Monday accused North Korea of firing nearly 130 artillery shells into ‘buffer zones’ on the maritime border and have stressed that this is a violation of the military agreement signed in 2018, amid a spike in tensions over the past few months.
The South Korean Army General Staff has indicated that the shots were fired at around 3 p.m. (local time) from Kumgang County, Kangwon Province, and from Cape Jangsan, South Hwanghae Province, as reported by the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
Thus, it has highlighted that the projectiles have hit two ‘buffer zones’ located on the Northern Limit Line, which is the ‘de facto’ maritime border between the two countries and which were created after the aforementioned agreement, signed in September 2018 with the aim of reducing border tensions.
In this regard, the South Korean Army General Staff has stressed that it has issued warnings to Pyongyang following these shots, which it described as «a clear violation of the September 19 (2018) military agreement.» «We strongly call on North Korea to stop the firing immediately,» it has said.
The South Korean Army has stressed that it is monitoring the situation and North Korea’s movements in cooperation with the U.S., while confirming that it is strengthening its defensive posture against any incidents. In this context, the Army will conduct live-fire maneuvers this Monday and Tuesday in Cheorwon County, northeast of the capital, Seoul.
The governments of the United States, Japan and South Korea on Friday tightened their sanctions against senior North Korean officials and entities after Pyongyang stepped up its ballistic missile and artillery missile launches in recent weeks.
