Seoul: South Korea says North Korea has conducted artillery drills along the rivals’ tense sea boundary in violation of a 2018 military agreement.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says North Korea fired 200 rounds in the waters north of their disputed western sea boundary on Friday.
South Korea called the North Korean drills a provocation, though it suffered no damage.
Residents of South Korea’s front-line island of Yeonpyeong say the South Korean military has asked them to evacuate because it plans to launch firing drills later Friday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered authorities to increase production of mobile launch vehicles for missiles because the country faces a looming military showdown with its enemies, state media reported Friday, as it pushes to make its launches harder to detect.
The report on Kim’s order came hours after the White House said US intelligence has determined that North Korea has supplied ballistic missile launchers to Russia for its war in Ukraine. The US and its allies have previously accused North Korea of sending artillery and ammunition to Russia in return for Russian technologies to enhance its own military programs.
The official Korean Central News Agency said Kim visited a factory that produces transport erector launchers, or TELs, without saying when he went or where the factory is.
TELs are mobile launch vehicles which give North Korea the ability to move missiles around its territory, making it more difficult for its adversaries to detect launches in advance. Some South Korean experts have estimated that North Korea has about 100-200 such vehicles.
Kim said the factory’s role is “very important” in bolstering North Korea’s national defense “given the prevailing grave situation that requires the country to be more firmly prepared for a military showdown with the enemy,” KCNA reported.
“He took an important measure for expanding the production capacity of the factory,” it said.
Agencies
North Korea conducts artillery drills along disputed sea border: S Korea
