Hong Kong. October 14. INTERFAX - North Korea fired about 170 artillery shots at the sea "buffer zones" established in accordance with the inter-Korean agreement on reducing military tensions in 2018, the South Korean military said.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean Armed Forces recorded that the North fired about 130 artillery shots into the Yellow Sea from Hwanghae Province between 1:20 and 1:25 Friday morning (19:20-19:25 Moscow time), as well as about 40 artillery shots into the Sea of Japan from Gangwon Province between 2:57 and 3:07 (20:57 and 21:07 Moscow time).
It is noted that artillery shots fell on the eastern and western buffer zones north of the actual inter-Korean maritime border, which was outlined in accordance with the Comprehensive Military Agreement between the two Koreas signed in 2018.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean Armed Forces called Pyongyang's actions a clear violation of the agreement between the two Koreas.
"Such ongoing provocations by North Korea are acts that undermine peace and stability not only on the Korean peninsula, but also in the international community," the military said in a statement.
"In this regard, we seriously warn (the North) and urge it to immediately stop provocations," the Joint Chiefs of Staff added.
As reported, the DPRK military launched a short-range ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan on the night of Thursday to Friday. The launch was carried out from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at 1:49 am (19:49 Moscow time).
According to the Ministry of Defense of South Korea, the DPRK missile flew about 700 km with the highest point about 50 km at a maximum speed of Mach 6.
In turn, North Korea said it had taken countermeasures against the "provocative actions" of the South Korean military in the border zone.
"On October 13, in the area in front of the 5th corps of our army, South Korean troops conducted shelling for more than 10 hours. We, considering the provocative actions of the South Korean military (...) serious, they took strong military countermeasures," the representative of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA) said in a statement published by the Korean Central Telegraph Agency (KCNA).
