North Korea to hold sea border live-fire drill

Agence France-Presse

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

North Korea to hold sea border live-fire drill
North Korea readies a live-fire drill near its maritime border with South Korea

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea readied a live-fire drill near its maritime border with South Korea on Tuesday, April 29 – one month after a similar exercise triggered the exchange of hundreds of artillery shells across the disputed boundary.

“The North notified us there would be live-fire drills today north of the (border) near Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong islands,” a defense ministry spokesman told the Agence France-Presse.

“Our military is fully prepared,” the spokesman said, adding that South Korean fishing vessels had already been told to withdraw from the area.

North Korea carried out a similar drill on March 31 during which a number of shells dropped into South Korean territorial waters.

The South responded, and the two rivals traded hundreds of rounds of live artillery fire, forcing South Korean islanders to take shelter.

The exchange was limited to untargeted shelling into the sea, but fuelled tensions that had already risen after North Korea threatened to carry out a nuclear test.

Tuesday’s announcement followed analysis of recent satellite images suggesting the North was indeed preparing to conduct its fourth atomic detonation, with stepped-up activity detected at its main nuclear test site.

It also followed the visit to Seoul last week by US President Barack Obama, who angered Pyongyang by demanding that the North abandon its nuclear weapons program. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!