Escalation of the conflict on the Korean Peninsula

South Korea and North Korea exchange warning shots off the coast of the Korean Peninsula

On Monday, the South Korean military said it had fired warning shots at a North Korean ship crossing the countries’ de facto maritime border, prompting North Korea to issue a retaliatory warning.

In response, the North Korea fired artillery shells at the buffer zone in the Yellow Sea.  Thus, the DPRK violated the agreement of 2018 on detente, pointed out in Seoul.

For its part, the military leadership of the DPRK accused South Korea of ​​violating the North Korean border.  According to the General Staff in Pyongyang, a South Korean military boat invaded the territory controlled by the North Korea under the pretext of an operation against an unidentified vessel, but Pyongyang fired ten shells in response, “thus sending a serious warning to the enemy.”

Conflict on the Korean Peninsula

North Korea does not recognize the Northern Limit Line (NLL) off the coast of the Korean Peninsula. This line was established unilaterally by the UN forces after the Korean War of 1950-53 to prevent clashes between the two Korean states.

In recent weeks, North Korea has launched several short-range ballistic missiles and hundreds of artillery shells from its east and west coasts in protest against Seoul’s military actions. Last week, South Korean troops began their annual defense exercise, which will last until October 28.  Pyongyang called the exercises a provocation and threatened to retaliate.