The Korean Peninsula has been mired in a tense situation in recent days, and the three consecutive days of artillery fire have made local residents feel anxious. The South Korean side announced on the 8th that there is no longer a buffer zone between South Korea and North Korea, marking the official state of hostility between the two countries. Earlier, the General Staff of the Korean People's Army deleted the concepts of "nation" and "same race", laying the groundwork for the change of "line toward South Korea" at the beginning of the new year.
North Korean forces fired artillery shells for three consecutive days near the northwestern islands of the northernmost part of South Korea's western waters from January 5 to 7, South Korea reported. More than 200 rounds of coastal artillery were fired at the north of Baeknyeong Island and Yeonpyeong Island, and some of the shells approached 7 kilometers north of the "northern limit line," arousing the vigilance of the South Korean side. Later that day, the ROK military used K9 self-propelled guns and tank guns to conduct maritime firing training to counter the North Koreans.
In the days that followed, North Korean forces continued to fire artillery shells north of Yeonpyeong Island, which the South Korean military said was low-level psychological warfare for its detection capabilities. However, the South Korean Joint Staff Headquarters has firmly stated that if North Korea launches a provocation against South Korean territory and the security of its citizens, the South Korean military will respond resolutely on the principle of "immediate, forceful, and countermeasures to the end."
The sharp deterioration of inter-Korean relations is also reflected in the dispute over the demarcation of maritime boundaries. The "Northern Limit" demarcated by the ROK between the "five islands in the West Sea" and the western coast of the DPRK has been rejected by the DPRK, and the maritime military demarcation line declared by the DPRK is far from what the ROK claims, so that the two countries have not been able to reach an agreement on the border issue.
Inter-Korean relations in 2024 are markedly different from the past, and at the beginning of the new year, the concepts of "nation" and "same race" were deleted from the report of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army, officially declaring that the relations between the two sides have changed from one of the same ethnic groups to one between hostile countries and two belligerents in war. Analysts generally believe that the tough confrontation between the two Koreas is likely to continue, or even evolve into a more serious situation.
The international community is concerned about the changes in the situation in the region and is worried that the two sides may misinterpret or exaggerate each other's intentions, which may lead to the outbreak of local war. As the situation on the Korean Peninsula continues to escalate, the international community calls on all parties to exercise restraint and resolve disputes through dialogue to avoid potentially serious consequences. Where the inter-Korean relations will go in the future, we will follow the latest reports for you.