North Korea fires 200 artillery rounds at border region; South Korea issues evacuation orders

North Korea fires 200 artillery rounds at border region; South Korea issues evacuation orders

Amidst rising tension, North Korea fired about 200 artillery rounds in the border region with South Korea, in response to a joint combat firing drill carried out by the United States and South Korea involving heavy weaponry recently. This joint drill was also an outcome of a recent statement by Kim Jong-Un, calling the U.S. actions “provocating for a nuclear war.”

North Korea’s artillery firing around the disputed sea boundary violated the fragile 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, according to a report by the Associated Press. According to the report, South Korea also returned the artillery fires in the sea, but there was no response from the North Korean side.

The South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, that lies just South of the maritime border with North Korea has been evacuated on the orders by the government in the wake of artillery fires carried out today morning by the North Korean army.

According to Associated Press, “The Koreas’ poorly marked western sea boundary witnessed bloody naval clashes in 1999, 2002 and 2009. The North’s alleged torpedoing of a South Korean warship killed 46 South Korean sailors in March 2010, and the North’s artillery bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island — one of the five border islands where the evacuation order was issued on Friday — killed four South Koreans in November 2010. The 2018 agreement requires the two Koreas to halt live-fire exercises and aerial surveillance in buffer and no-fly zones that they established along their border.”

Kim Jong-un prepares for war

The North Korean media has reported that calls have been made to prepare for a military showdown against any provocation from the South Korean army. The media also shared images of Kim Jong-un with his daughter visiting the state facility of manufacturing missile carriers. Speculations are being made that Kim intends to mobilize these missiles across different parts of the country.