North Korea: "Maritime firing is a natural response to South Korea's large-scale exercises"

Strong Warning of Forceful Response to Provocations by Korean Military

North Korea stated that its coastal artillery firing north of Yeonpyeong Island and Baengnyeong Island on the 5th was a response to South Korea's New Year military exercises. It also threatened to respond strongly if South Korea provokes with naval firing.

On the 5th, when North Korea conducted coastal artillery firing near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea, our military's K9 self-propelled howitzer carried out maritime firing training on Yeonpyeong Island.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to a report by the Korean Central News Agency on the day, the General Staff of the Korean People's Army mobilized 47 artillery pieces and fired 192 shells in live-fire naval exercises across five zones.

Through the report, the North Korean military said, "the direction of the live-fire naval shooting does not indirectly affect Baengnyeong Island and Yeonpyeong Island," and stated that "the South Korean military gangsters' claims that our military fired coastal artillery in the so-called maritime buffer zone north of Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong Islands are completely groundless assertions intended to mislead public opinion."

They also explained that this naval firing exercise was "a natural countermeasure by our military in response to the large-scale artillery firing and maneuver exercises conducted by the South Korean military gangsters."

They added, "They should stop the futile act of blaming the escalation of tensions and not bring disaster upon themselves," warning that "if the enemies carry out actions that could be provocations under the pretext of so-called responses, our military will demonstrate an unprecedented level of strong countermeasures." They also threatened that "the concept of nation and compatriots has already been erased from our perception."

On the morning of the same day, North Korea conducted naval firing near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the northwestern island area, the northernmost part of the West Sea. This area is a maritime buffer zone, and conducting artillery firing and naval maneuver exercises here violates the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement.

In response, the South Korean Marine Corps' 6th Brigade on Baengnyeong Island and the Yeonpyeong Unit on Yeonpyeong Island conducted counter naval firing exercises from around 3 p.m. on the same day, mobilizing K9 self-propelled howitzers and tank guns. This was the first naval firing exercise by the marine units near the northwestern islands since the September 19 agreement was signed in 2018.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.