North Korea fires hundreds of artillery shells in retaliation to annual defense drills of the South

South Korea conducted its annual defense drills. The aim of such drills is to boost its ability to respond to nuclear and missile threats of Pyongyang. This has not gone down well with the North. It retaliated by firing hundreds of artillery shells off its eastern and western coasts and said the shells did not land in South Korean territorial waters. They instead fell inside maritime buffer zones the two Koreas established under a 2018 inter-Korean agreement aimed at reducing front-line animosities. This is the second such incident. North Korea carried out a similar exercise recently in direct violation of the 2018 agreement. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) confirmed this. He said that North Korea fired some 250 shells of its eastern and western coasts late on Tuesday and launched an additional 100 rounds, starting at around midday on Wednesday. In a statement he said - “We strongly urge North Korea to immediately halt its actions. North Korea’s continued provocations are actions that undermine peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the international community.” N Korea fires artillery shells in ‘grave warning’ to Seoul.

A spokesperson for the North Korean People’s Army (KPA) explained that the purpose of firing the shots was designed to send a “grave warning” to South Korea in response to its own artillery training. These took place earlier in an eastern border region. Seoul did not immediately confirm this. The Hoguk drills of the South are due to end soon. These are the latest in a series of military exercises conducted in recent weeks and include joint activities with the United States and Japan. Incidentally, the artillery tests of the North attracts less outside attention than its missile launches. However, its forward-deployed long-range artillery guns pose a serious security threat to the populous metropolitan region of its neighbor. This is because its location is about 25 to 30 miles from the border with North Korea and a matter of concern.

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Kim Jong-Un prepares for a war – keeps his frontline troops in readiness

North Korean leader is preparing for a war with South Korea and has ordered his frontline troops onto a war footing – his instructions are that the troops should be "fully battle ready to launch surprise operations" while the entire frontline should be placed in a "semi-war state".
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 21 august 2015.

Kim Jong-Un’s instructions are the result of exchange of artillery shells across their heavily fortified border. The forces of South Korea are also on maximum alert after the North`s military had issued an ultimatum for Seoul to switch off loudspeakers blasting propaganda over the border within 48 hours or face concerted military action.
Technically speaking, the two Koreas have been at war for the past 65 years because the ceasefire of the 1950-53 Korean War has not yet been ratified by a formal peace treaty. And, from time to time, North raises the war cry.
This time, there was some artillery exchange - North Korea fired several shells in the rough direction of one of its border propaganda units and South responded by firing "dozens" of 155mm howitzer rounds.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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