South Korea announced today, Monday, that its northern neighbor had fired about 130 artillery shells towards the "buffer zones" in the eastern and western seas of the Korean peninsula, coinciding with live-fire exercises being conducted by South Korea and the United States of America in a border area.
And the South Korean "Yonhap" agency - quoting the Joint Chiefs of Staff in South Korea - said that it had monitored the firing of missiles, which are believed to include multiple rocket launchers, from Kumgang County in Kangwon Province and Gangsan Cape Province in South Hwanghae Province.
The shells fell on the maritime buffer zones north of the "Northern Border Line", which is an existing sea boundary that was established under an inter-Korean military agreement on September 19, 2018, with the aim of reducing border tensions.
In a text message sent to reporters, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had issued warnings to North Korea several times, noting the violation of the military agreement and calling for the provocations to stop immediately.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said that firing artillery into the eastern and western buffer zones "is a clear violation of the September 19 military agreement," and strongly called on North Korea to immediately stop firing its artillery.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff added that the South Korean army tracks and monitors the relevant North Korean movements, in cooperation with the United States, and enhances the state of readiness to face any possible emergency.
This year, Pyongyang conducted a record series of missile tests, one of which was last November's most advanced intercontinental missile.
North Korea announced last September that its status as a "nuclear power" was "irreversible".
To permanently close the door to any negotiations regarding its disarmament, Pyongyang then promised the United States a nuclear response in the event of an attack targeting its territory.