From Le Figaro with AFP and Portal
Published 35 minutes ago, updated 1 minute ago
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. STR/AFP
At the end of a meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in late December, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered to accelerate military preparations for a “war” on the peninsula that could “start at any time.”
Seoul ordered the evacuation of residents of Yeonpyeong Island, about 10 km from North Korea, after Pyongyang fired about 200 artillery shells off its western coast, the ministry said on Friday (Jan 5). South Korean defense.
“About 200 artillery shells were fired by North Korea (near) Yeonpyeong Island,” a South Korean Defense Ministry official said at a news conference. Officials on the island also told AFP that residents had been asked to evacuate.
The Defense Department has not confirmed whether the order was triggered by North Korean artillery fire or South Korean exercises in response. However, a message sent to residents and confirmed by an official on the island reported a “naval fire” that would be carried out by South Korean troops from 3:00 p.m. (0600 GMT) on Friday. An official on Yeonpyeong island, which lies south of the disputed Northern Limit Line (NLL) maritime border, said the evacuation was ordered at the request of the South Korean military.
Provocative act according to Seoul
The North Korean fire caused no civilian or military damage in the South, the South Korean military said at a news conference. “This is a provocative act that heightens tensions and endangers peace on the Korean Peninsula,” a spokesman for the South Korean General Staff said, calling on its neighbor to “immediately stop these actions” and warning that it would take “appropriate measures “ will respond ” measures.
Residents of Baengnyeong Island, far west of Yeonpyeong and also close to the sea border, were also ordered to evacuate, a village official said.
In 2010, Pyongyang fired 170 artillery shells at Yeonpyeong Island, killing four people, including two civilians, in the first North Korean attack on civilians since the Korean War (1950-1953).
Record number of missile tests
The two Koreas began a process of rapprochement in 2018, marked by three meetings between Kim Jong-un and then South Korean President Moon Jae-in. But relations between the two Koreas deteriorated to a low point this year after Pyongyang launched a spy satellite, prompting Seoul to partially suspend a 2018 military deal meant to defuse tensions.
At the end of a meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in late December, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered to accelerate military preparations for a “war” on the peninsula that could “start at any time.”
In 2023, North Korea conducted a record number of ballistic missile tests, violating numerous UN resolutions that prohibit them.
The country also enshrined its status as a nuclear power in its constitution and successfully tested the Hwasong-18, the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in its arsenal capable of reaching the United States.