(3rd LD) N. Korea stages artillery drills off western coast for 3rd day: S. Korean military

▲ The gun ports of the coastal artillery (circled in red) on a North Korean island near the Northern Limit Line, a de facto maritime border, remain open, in this photo taken from South Korea's front-line island of Yeonpyeong on Jan. 7, 2023. (Yonhap)

(3rd LD) N Korea-artillery firing

(3rd LD) N. Korea stages artillery drills off western coast for 3rd day: S. Korean military

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SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired some 90 artillery shots into waters off its western coast Sunday, South Korea's military said, the latest in a series of drills near the tensely guarded western border.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the artillery firings into the maritime buffer zone north of Northern Limit Line, the de-facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea, and South Korea's border island of Yeonpyeong from about 4 p.m. to 5:10 p.m.

The buffer zone was set under a 2018 inter-Korean military accord designed to reduce tensions along the border.

There was no damage to the South Korean military or civilians from the latest firing, a JCS official said, adding that the South Korean military does not plan to hold drills in response.

It marked the third consecutive day of North Korean artillery drills in the area, the South's military said, raising tension near the maritime border.

Earlier in the day, Ongjin County, which has jurisdiction over South Korea's northwestern border islands, issued a warning to the islands as artillery fire was heard from the North Korean side.

On Friday, North Korea fired some 200 artillery shells from its southwestern coastal areas, prompting the South Korean troops on the front-line islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong to stage live-fire drills near the buffer zone for the first time since the signing of the 2018 pact.

North Korea's Friday artillery firing marked the 16th one of its kind into the zone, including a missile launch in 2022.

In November, Pyongyang vowed to restore military measures halted under the 2018 agreement, which set up buffer zones in land, sea and air, and banned live-fire drills near the border area to prevent accidental clashes.

On Saturday, the North carried out live-fire drills in the area for the second day to fire around 60 shells into the buffer zone, according to the JCS.

Earlier Sunday, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, claimed the North conducted a "deceptive operation" by detonating explosives simulating the sound of 130 mm coastal artillery the previous day, deriding the South Korean military's detection capabilities.

The JCS dismissed the statement, calling it "comedic low-grade" propaganda attempting to cause division within South Korea and damage trust in the military.

"Kim Yo-jong appears to have announced a false statement as (she) was surprised by our military's detection capabilities," the JCS official said. "North Korea's artillery firing (on Saturday) was also detected by our military's detection assets."

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