SEOUL, Dec 6 (Reuters) – North Korea stated on Tuesday it had ordered army models to fireside extra artillery shells into the ocean, the North’s official KCNA information company reported, in response to South Korea’s ongoing drills throughout the border.
The firing comes a day after North Korea stated it fired greater than 130 shells into the ocean off its east and west coasts, a few of which landed in a buffer zone close to the ocean border between the 2 Koreas. Seoul referred to as {that a} violation of a 2018 inter-Korean settlement to scale back tensions.
South Korean and U.S. troops have been conducting live-fire drills close to the border since Monday. The allies say the drills are crucial to discourage nuclear-armed North Korea, which examined a document variety of missiles this 12 months and has made preparations to renew nuclear testing for the primary time since 2017.
Pyongyang has sharply criticized the joint workouts as provocative and proof of hostile insurance policies by Seoul and Washington.
“The enemy should instantly stop provocative army actions within the zone close to the entrance strains,” a spokesperson for the North Korean military stated, based on KCNA.
Along with the artillery fireplace, the North Korean military issued a fight emergency alert to models in any respect ranges and troops had been ordered to step up surveillance, the spokesperson stated.
Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi
Enhancing by Shri Navaratnam and Gerry Doyle
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