Pyongyang [North Korea], July 8: Ms. Kim Yo-jong condemned the above-mentioned South Korean drills as an obvious and unforgivable provocation, according to North Korea 's KCNA news agency today, July 8.
Ms. Kim stressed that in case North Korea believes its sovereignty is violated, its armed forces will immediately carry out their duties and obligations according to the constitution.
There is currently no information about South Korea's reaction to Ms. Kim's new accusations and statements.
Previously, Stars and Stripes newspaper quoted a July 2 announcement from the South Korean military saying they had held live-fire drills near the border with North Korea for the first time in six years.
The artillery drill was conducted at an unspecified firing range in an area approximately 5 kilometers from the Military Demarcation Line, the de facto border dividing the Korean Peninsula.
Last month, South Korea formally suspended a military deconfliction agreement with North Korea, which banned live-fire training along the border.
That comprehensive military agreement, signed in 2018, imposed a number of measures aimed at reducing tensions on the Korean peninsula, including suspending military exercises and establishing no-fly zones along the border.
South Korea suspended a provision in the agreement banning flights near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in November 2023 after North Korea successfully launched a spy satellite. That move prompted North Korea to scrap the agreement altogether and vowed to deploy "more powerful weapons" to the inter-Korean border.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
