News / Koreas

South Korea fires warning shots at object flying from North Korea

Tuesday, 23 May 2017 10:26 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 23 May 2017 10:37 AM ]

This picture released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 26, 2017 shows the combined fire demonstration of the services of the army in celebration of its 85th founding anniversary at the airport of eastern front. (Via AFP)

South Koran military has fired warning shots at a suspected drone flying from North Korea amid fresh tensions between the two neighbors over Pyongyang’s new ballistic missile test.

In a statement on Monday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the military bolstered its air surveillance and broadcast a warning to North Korea in response to the object.

The identity of the object remained unclear, the military said in the statement. No further details were provided.

Yonhap news agency, however, said the flying object was possibly a drone, adding that nearly 90 machine-gun rounds were fired into the air and toward North Korea.

The incident comes days after North Korea test-fired a new ballistic missile dubbed Pukguksong-2, drawing condemnation from the UN Security Council, which vowed to tighten anti-Pyongyang sanctions.

Read more:

UN vows to increase anti-North Korea sanctions

Tensions have been running high in the region over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, which Pyongyang sees as a deterrent against a potential invasion by its adversaries.

Unsettled by North Korean missile and nuclear programs, the United States has adopted a war-like posture, sending a strike group and conducting joint military drills with North Korea’s regional adversaries Japan and South Korea.

The North, already under an array of sanctions for its missile and nuclear programs, says it would not abandon its missile and nuclear programs unless the US ended its hostility toward Pyongyang.

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