The General Staff of the North Korean Army has given the order to open artillery fire toward the Sea of Japan in response to drills conducted by South Korea and the United States near the inter-Korean border on Tuesday.
According to the North Korean military, multiple artillery rounds were reportedly detected from several rocket launchers and howitzers in frontline areas at around 9:15 a.m. (local time), KCNA reported.
«We have immediately ordered frontline artillery units to fire artillery shots into the sea to issue a strong warning,» an unnamed North Korean General Staff spokesman said in a statement, calling on Seoul to «immediately» stop «provocative» military actions.
North Korea is referring to Tuesday’s live-fire drills between South Korea and the United States at border units in Cheorwon County, 71 kilometers northeast of Seoul, Yonhap reported.
The North Korean order comes a day after Pyongyang fired nearly 130 artillery shells into ‘buffer zones’ on the maritime border, all amid a spike in tensions over the past few months.
