The Korean Peninsula continued to fire artillery for three days in a row. On the 8th, the ROK military announced that there was no longer a buffer zone between the ROK and the DPRK. Earlier, the General Staff of the Korean People's Army had deleted the concepts of "nation" and "same ethnic group" in the report.
South Korean media: The North Korean side has been firing artillery shells for three consecutive days.
From January 5 to 7, North Korean forces have fired artillery shells near the northernmost northwest island in South Korea's western waters for three consecutive days, according to South Korea**.
On the 5th, the DPRK fired more than 200 rounds of coastal artillery in the direction of the "Northern Limit Line" demarcated by the DPRK and the ROK north of Baeknyeong Island and Yeonpyeong Island. The area around Yeonpyeong Island and Bailing Island issued evacuation orders to local residents twice on the same day. Later that day, the ROK military used K9 self-propelled guns and tank guns to conduct maritime firing training to counter the North Koreans.
On the 6th, according to information released by the ROK army, the Korean People's Army carried out more than 60 shells at the coastal artillery ports northwest of Yeonpyeong Island, and some of the shells fell in the maritime buffer zone north of the "Northern Limit Line" in the western sea. Since the direction of the artillery shells was aimed at the flanks of the DPRK and the inland areas in the north that day, the ROK did not hold a live-fire exercise to counteract because it did not pose a threat.
Kim Yo-jong denied the shelling on the 6th: it was just a poison.
In this regard, Kim Yo-jong, deputy minister of the DPRK Labor Commission, denied the so-called artillery provocation, saying that it was an explosive that detonated the sound of simulated artillery shells. North Korea's ** TV station interspersed ** North Korean military ** drug introduction ** when reporting Kim Yo-jong's conversation. Kim Yo-jong also warned that even if the South Korean side made a small provocation, the North Korean army would immediately give it a "baptism of artillery."
The South Korean Joint Staff Headquarters said on the 7th that Kim Yo-jong's above statement is only a "low-level psychological warfare" against the South Korean military's detection capabilities, and if North Korea launches a provocation against South Korea's territory and national security, the South Korean army will resolutely respond to it in line with the principle of "immediate, strong, and countermeasures to the end."
On the 7th, the South Korean side sent another message, saying that the North Korean army fired nearly 90 artillery shells from 4 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. on the same day to the north of Yeonpyeong Island. Since the South Korean side did not suffer losses, the South Korean army did not conduct response shots. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that the Korean People's Army's southwest coastal defense unit conducted live-fire training in four target areas in the southwest sea area on the same day. The training used 23 coastal guns and fired 88 shells, and in terms of firing directions, "this live-fire zone has nothing to do with the military demarcation line and does not pose any threat to the hostile countries".
South Korean Army: There is no longer a buffer zone between South Korea and North Korea.
On the 8th, the ROK military announced that there was no longer a buffer zone between the ROK and the DPRK. As a result, the ROK military will normally carry out activities such as shooting and training in the restricted areas of hostilities at sea and on land.
Lee Sung-joon, director of the communiqué office of the South Korean Joint Staff Headquarters.
North Korea violated the "919 military agreement" between the two Koreas more than 3,000 times and carried out artillery bombardment in the western waters for three consecutive days. As a result, there is no longer a buffer zone between the two Koreas.
The two Koreas are at odds over the demarcation of the maritime boundary in the western part of the peninsula.
The two Koreas have been at odds over the demarcation of the western waters of the Korean Peninsula. The ROK has drawn a maritime demarcation line between the two countries, called the "Northern Limit," between the "five islands in the West Sea," including Yeonpyeong Island, and the western coast of the DPRK, which the DPRK does not recognize. North Korea's maritime military demarcation line declared in 1999 is farther south than South Korea's so-called "northern limit," and South Korea does not recognize it.
The Korean People's Army issued a report: the concepts of "nation" and "homogeneity" were deleted.
Since the beginning of 2024, the situation on the peninsula has suddenly become tense. In the report released by the General Staff of the Korean People's Army on the 5th, the concepts of "nation" and "same ethnic group" have been deleted. South Korean media believe that this statement by the North Korean military is consistent with the change in the "line toward South Korea" mentioned by Kim Jong-un at the beginning of the new year.
General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea Kim Jong Un.
The relations between the two Koreas are no longer homogeneous and homogeneous, but completely fixed as the relations between two countries and the two belligerents in the war.
Analysts believe that the "tough vs. tough" confrontation between the two Koreas may continue in 2024.
Hong Min, Senior Research Committee Member of the Korea Institute for Unification Research.
If the two Koreas misinterpret or exaggerate each other's intentions, there is a real possibility that it will turn into a local war or a more serious situation.