North Korea labels South Korean military drills a ‘grave provocation’
North Korea has labelled South Korean military drills “a grave provocation” that demanded a response, and said recent tensions have undone prior peacemaking efforts between the two countries, state news agency KCNA reported on Friday.
A North Korean statement alleges that on Wednesday the South Korean military staged a joint military drill in the West Sea of Korea involving more than 20 fighters.
It said the move was “reckless” and “the height of the military confrontation which would leave tongue-tied even their master.”
“Everything is now going back to the starting point before the north-south summit meeting in 2018,” the statement added.
On Sunday, shots fired from North Korea hit a South Korean guard post inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), Yonhap news agency reported, citing the South Korean military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
South Korean troops returned fire and issued broadcast warnings after a guard unit in the town of Cheorwon was hit early Sunday morning, the JCS said.
The DMZ has separated North and South Korea since the Korean War in the 1950s. The two Koreas have never officially made peace.
Read also: China accuses Pompeo of telling lies over its handling of coronavirus
Meanwhile, in a separate statement on Friday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un congratulated Chinese President Xi Jinping on the country’s management of the coronavirus pandemic.
Kim emphasized his appreciation of the fact that Xi had seized “a chance of victory in the war against the unprecedented epidemic,” while “strategically and tactically controlling the overall situation,” KCNA reported. (dpa)
