North Korea Fires Artillery Shells as Warning to South's Military Drills Amid Increasing Hostilities

On Wednesday, South Korea criticized North Korea for launching a new artillery barrage into the ocean off its east and west coasts, which was directed at a maritime buffer zone established in 2018 to ease tensions.

In recent weeks, Pyongyang has substantially increased its missile launches and military drills, according to Seoul and Washington. They claim North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is about to execute his country's seventh nuclear test.

North Korea's Second-Time to Launch Artillery Shells

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea reported that over 250 rounds were fired late on Tuesday, describing it as a clear violation of the 2018 agreement. According to Pyongyang on Wednesday, the barrage was launched to thwart the enemy's war drill against the North near the border. Last week, the North also launched artillery shells into the military buffer zones, as per NDTV.

Since firing hundreds of shells into the buffer zones on Friday, when it committed its largest-ever direct breach of the 2018 Agreement, North Korea has only fired shells into the buffer zones twice. The military of South Korea urged North Korea to stop its provocations that threaten regional peace and security. It said that it is increasing military readiness and that it is closely observing North Korea's actions in collaboration with the United States.

A few hours later, an unnamed spokesperson for the North Korean People's Army General Staff released a statement in which they claimed the South Korean artillery training that they claimed had taken place earlier on Tuesday near a border area was the cause of the most recent artillery firings.

However, Seoul would not immediately confirm that such artillery drills were held on Tuesday. The North Korean spokeswoman also attacked the South Korean military, calling its annual 12-day field drill an invasion practice, for beginning it on Monday. The South Korean Defense Ministry announced that an undefined number of US troops would participate in this year's drills, which are intended to improve operational capabilities to confront various forms of North Korean provocations.

Less outside attention is paid to the North's artillery testing than its missile launches. But the heavily populated metropolitan area of South Korea, which is just approximately 40 to 50 kilometers (25 to 30 miles) from the border with North Korea, is seriously threatened in terms of security by its forward-deployed long-range artillery batteries.

In response to their dangerous military drills involving a US aircraft carrier, North Korea has carried out several weapons tests in recent weeks in what it describes as rehearsals of nuclear strikes on South Korean and American targets. Regular military drills between Washington and Seoul are seen as a practice for an attack by North Korea.

Since it started testing again on September 25, North Korea has launched 15 missiles for test purposes. One of them displayed a range extending as far as the American territory of Guam in the Pacific and beyond while flying over Japan.

Experts Predict Kim Jong Un Will Use Expanded Weapons

According to some international experts, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may eventually try to use his increased stockpile of weapons to persuade the United States and other countries to recognize his nation as a legitimate nuclear power and end economic sanctions against it, NBC New York reported.

Since it started testing again on September 25, North Korea has launched 15 missiles for test purposes. One of them displayed a range extending as far as the US territory of Guam in the Pacific and beyond when flying over Japan.

Tokyo imposed more sanctions on North Korea on Tuesday, including four trading companies and the Ministry of Rocket Industry in Pyongyang. He stressed that Pyongyang's actions were violent and completely unacceptable. On Friday, South Korea blacklisted 15 North Koreans and 16 institutions involved in missile development, enacting its first unilateral penalties against the North in five years.

According to some international experts, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would eventually like to persuade the US and other nations to acknowledge his country as a legitimate nuclear state and relieve economic sanctions on North Korea by using his expanded arsenal of weapons, as per Aljazeera via MSN.