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More than 200 artillery shells were launched by North Korea into the sea close to a volatile maritime frontier and in the direction of two South Korean islands on Friday, January 5, 2024. Seoul replied with live fire drills, labeling the incident as an act of provocation.
The armed forces in Seoul ordered the people of the isolated South Korean islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong to flee to bomb shelters following a confrontation on Friday before it launched live ammunition into the direction of the contested Northern Limit Line (NLL).
The artillery shells that were launched on Friday between 09:00 and 11:00 local time (00:00 and 02:00 GMT) all fell in the protective area separating the two nations, preventing them from entering South Korean soil. Furthermore, China, North Korea's principal political partner, advocated moderation and a return to communication between the two parties.
"This is an act of provocation": South Korean Defence Minister Shin Won-sik issued statement regarding North Korea's artillery firing
According to South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Sung-joon, Pyongyang's firing did not result in any damage, and all the shells (tank firing missiles) fell on the northern side of the maritime boundary. BBC reported that as he oversaw the fire drills, South Korean Defence Minister Shin Won-sik declared:
"Today the North Korean military conducted more than 200 fire strikes from 9 am to 11am at the North Bang Jangsan and Yeonpyeong Do mountain passes. As a result there were no damages to the people and the military, and the landing point was the NLL North Bang. This is an act of provocation that threatens and tightens the tension by resuming artillery fire in the West Sea buffer zone after North korea unilaterally claimed to have destroyed the 9.19 military agreement on November 23, 2023."
He continued:
"Our military must assume the readiness to completely wipe out the enemy so that they wouldn't dare another provocation, and to back up the pace through strength."
For the uninitiated, the process of "artillery firing" entails utilizing mounted weapons to damage an object. The word "artillery" includes rocket artillery, mortars, howitzers, and large-calibre weapons.
The most prominent characteristics of modern weaponry are its extended range, ability to fire high-explosive rounds or rockets, and mobile transportation for both shooting and movement. Its primary feature, though, is the indirect fire method, which aims the weapon without allowing the target to be visible via sight.
Earlier this week, in yet another display of bellicose language directed at Seoul and Washington, North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un launched an order to his armed forces to "thoroughly annihilate" South Korea and the United States should they launch a military conflict, as reported by Al Jazeera.
After years of tension and wars between the two halves of the Korean peninsula, the current situation has brought the countries to their lowest point.
North Korea has lately increased the intensity of its nuclear and military threats. In November 2023, the country successfully launched a surveillance satellite on its third endeavor. In December, it conducted a third test of its most capable intercontinental thermonuclear missile (ICMB), the Hwasong-18, using solid fuel in December 2023.
For the unversed, North Korea produces the three-stage Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which is powered by solid fuel. North Korea launched the Hwasong-18 effectively for the third time on December 18, 2023. After traveling 1,002 kilometers and ascending to a height of 6,518 km (4,050 miles), the missile successfully struck its objective.
The Japanese defense authorities stated to Al Jazeera that the missile might travel as far as 15,000 kilometers (9,300 miles) if it were fired on a less inclined route, which would allow it to strike the whole continental United States.
Meanwhile, on January 5, 2024, according to the Seoul Ministry of National Defence, the military closely observed the situation in collaboration with the United States.
In addition, as per the ministry, maritime battalions stationed on the two territories displayed an overwhelming operational response when they shot into the water south of the NLL. Tanks and automated artillery were used in its exercises.
South Korean marines executed artillery shell firing with the 6th Division armed forces on January 5, 2024, in the northwest coastal area, hours after the North Korean military carried out over 200 fire attacks.
As reported by Al Jazeera on January 5, 2024, just south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), Yeonpyeong Island has an official who verified that the military ordered the island's people to relocate to bomb shelters (rescue shelters). An official from the hamlet revealed that the residents of Baengnyeong island, situated close to the sea border and west of Yeonpyeong, were also instructed to leave.
The Northern Limit Line (NLL) was drawn up after the cessation of the 1950–1953 Korean War, but Pyongyang has challenged it since the 1990s, claiming it should lay much to the south.
Yeonpyeong was the target of North Korean shelling in 2010, which led to fatalities, including residents. Pyongyang said that Seoul's live-fire drills, which involved shells being tossed into its jurisdictional seas, were what set everything off.
BTS members enlisted in the South Korean military cause netizens to worry due to the attack
BTS members enlisted in the South Korean military as of December 12, 2023, to fulfill their mandatory service in the armed forces. As per reports, Kim Seokjin, Park Jimin, and Jeon Jungkook have enlisted in the 5th Infantry Division of the Republic of South Korea's Armed Forces.
The 5th Infantry Division is situated in the Yeoncheon Army base in the northern Gyeonggi Province of South Korea. It is 137 kilometres from Yeonpyeong Island where North Korea launched 200 fire attacks on January 5, 2024.
Nevertheless, netizens shared their concerns on Twitter and wished that the members were safe and sound.
Approximately 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Seoul, Yeonpyeong is home to a little over 2,000 inhabitants and soldiers stationed there. Getting there requires taking a ferry that takes more than two and a half hours.
Over the years, inter-Korean naval skirmishes have taken place there. In 2010, North Korea launched many artillery projectiles against the island, resulting in the deaths of two military and two civilians.
An artillery shell firing of 200 rounds has caused an emergency that has put the lives of all those civilians and soldiers in jeopardy.
