North Korea said Tuesday it had ordered military units to fire more artillery shells into the sea, North Korea’s official news agency KCNA reported in response to South Korea’s continued military drills at the border.
North Korea fired 82 artillery shells for over eight and a half hours Tuesday in response and warning of “insidious provocation by the enemy,” KCNA said, citing the country’s military spokesman.
The South Korean military said North Korea fired about 100 artillery shells.
On Monday, North Korea said it had fired more than 130 projectiles into the sea off its east and west coasts, some of which hit a safe zone near the sea border between the two Koreas. Seoul said the move violated a 2018 agreement between the countries to ease tensions.
South Korean and US troops have been conducting live fire drills near the border since Monday. Allies say the drills are necessary to deter North Korea, which has tested a record number of missiles this year and made preparations to resume nuclear testing for the first time since 2017.
Pyongyang sharply criticized the joint exercises as evidence of hostile policies by Seoul and Washington.
“The enemy must stop the provocative military actions in the zone near the frontline immediately,” a spokesman for the North Korean army told KCNA.
In addition to the artillery barrage, the North Korean military issued a distress alert to units at all levels and troops were ordered to increase vigilance, the spokesman said.
South Korea’s defense ministry dismissed Pyongyang’s statements.
“It is never acceptable for North Korea to unfairly criticize normal training between South Korea and the United States,” it said in a statement Tuesday.
*Reporting by Josh Smith, Soohyang Choi and Joyce Lee