SEOUL: Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said on Sunday that North Korea will launch a military strike immediately in reply to any provocation, as it fired artillery shells near its border with the South Korea for the third day in a row, western media reported.
The statement comes after South Korea’s army said the North Korea had fired over 60 artillery rounds on Saturday near their disputed maritime border, after a similar volley of over 200 the previous day.
North Korea Pledges Military Strike in Case of Provocation
North Korea again fired around 90 rounds on Sunday, the South Korea said. The North Korea’s army said they did not pose any threat to the South Korea as the firing exercise was carried out parallel to the border.
Although South Korea also held its own fire exercise in the sea on Friday in reply to the artillery shells, South Korea’s news agency Yonhap reported that there was no plan to do so following Saturday’s events.
The exercises on both sides of the border on Friday also sparked warnings for locals of South Korean border islands to seek protection in bomb shelters, although there were no reports of bombs crossing the maritime border.
In the statement, Kim rejected the artillery shell firings on Saturday and stated the North Korea had detonated explosives as a deception method.
South Korea’s army rejected Kim’s remarks as low-level psychological warfare, asking North Korea to cease military activity that increases tension near the border.
