North Korea Deploys Artillery Near Border as Tensions with South Korea Rise

Yonhap News

North Korean soldiers alongside self-propelled 122mm howitzers.

Tensions between North and South Korea have escalated this week after Pyongyang accused Seoul of fabricating a September landmine incident in a letter to the UN Security Council, while North Korean artillery vehicles were observed near the border.

A Reuters witness at an observatory in South Korea overlooking the heavily fortified frontier saw three North Korean armoured vehicles in clear view near the border on Monday.

South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency identified the vehicles as self-propelled 122mm howitzers, describing their deployment near the frontier as a rare public display of such artillery.

The vehicles had their gun barrels pointed south. Reuters also observed around 20 to 30 North Korean soldiers carrying out fencing work inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ).

North Korean state news agency KCNA reported that the country’s representative to the UN had sent a letter on Sunday accusing Seoul of using the landmine incident to portray Pyongyang’s border construction activities as a military incursion.

Pyongyang warned that any violation of its sovereignty could prompt self-defence measures, adding that South Korea would be “wholly accountable for all the ensuing consequences”.

The letter responded to a communication sent by South Korea to the Security Council last week, which stated that an explosion in the DMZ on 21 September had been caused by a mine planted by North Korean troops and constituted a violation of the Korean War Armistice Agreement.

The UN Command, which oversees the DMZ, has said that a North Korean mine laid across the military demarcation line violated the armistice. Pyongyang has denied responsibility. The command said on Monday that it would not comment on specific military activities.

A spokesperson for South Korea’s Unification Ministry said the North Korean letter appeared to reiterate Pyongyang’s existing position and justify its border demarcation activities.

The ministry declined to comment separately on the deployment of the armoured vehicles. Seoul has proposed dialogue with Pyongyang to ease tensions along the border.

North Korea’s letter also repeated allegations that South Korean forces had fired on North Korean personnel, describing the alleged action as a violation of the UN Charter, which prohibits the threat or use of force against another state’s territorial integrity.

Seoul has said its military issues warning broadcasts and fires warning shots when North Korean soldiers cross the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), which runs through the DMZ, in order to send them back across the boundary.

North Korean troops have been constructing tactical roads and fences and laying mines near the MDL in recent years.

Yonhap also reported on Sunday that North Korean troops were conducting drills along the coast of Kaepung County, about 1.5 kilometres from the observatory.

A similar incident occurred in 2015, when North Korean mines injured South Korean soldiers. Seoul responded by resuming anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts across the DMZ, triggering a military standoff. The confrontation ended after Pyongyang expressed regret and the two sides reached a high-level inter-Korean agreement.

Source: Reuters



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