North Korea will conduct live-fire drills near the South Korean border.
This will be North Korea's second live-fire military exercise in just one month.
According to Yonhap, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that North Korea announced on April 29 that it would hold a live-fire exercise near the maritime border between the two countries.
The Southwestern Command of the Korean People's Army sent a fax to South Korea's 2nd Fleet on the morning of April 29th to inform them of the aforementioned exercise in the maritime border area of the Yellow Sea, north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL). However, North Korea did not provide a specific time for the exercise.
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| South Koreans watch North Korean military exercises (AP Photo) |
"Although the exercise took place north of the NLL, the South Korean military implemented measures to ensure the safety of citizens, including controlling civilian vessels," JCS spokesperson Eom Hyo-sik stated.
"The South Korean military will respond forcefully if North Korean artillery shells land on this side of the NLL that is under South Korean control," Eom Hyo-sik declared.
The South Korean military has also stepped up its defenses to prevent potential conflict, especially in light of Pyongyang's actions in its most recent military exercises, the JCS said.
Earlier, North Korea conducted an artillery drill on March 31 in the same area while the US and South Korea were conducting their annual joint military exercises.
That exercise sparked tensions between the two Koreas, and both countries repeatedly fired artillery shells into each other's waters after some North Korean shell fragments landed in South Korean waters.
This upcoming military exercise by North Korea is intended to protest the joint statement by US President Barack Obama and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye during Obama's visit to South Korea last week.
In the aforementioned statement, both leaders warned that any provocative action by North Korea would only further isolate the country.
According to VOV
