Seoul: North Korea fires suspected artillery pieces into sea

North Korea test-fired suspected artillery pieces into the sea on Sunday, according to the South Korean military, days after Kim Jong-un vowed to enhance the country's military power in the face of foreign threats.

The South Korean military’s joint chiefs of staff in a statement claimed to have detected “several flight trajectories” believed to be artillery pieces fired by Pyongyang.

The statement added that Seoul maintains a firm military readiness in close coordination with Washington amid increased surveillance on their common foe, North Korea.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), which normally reports on successful weapons tests after 24 hours, has not yet reacted to Seoul’s claims.

The nuclear-armed country has conducted a series of sanctions-busting weapons tests this year, including firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at the full range for the first time since 2017.

The latest development came days after China and Russia censured the US for fueling tensions in the region, citing Pyongyang’s missile test in response to US-led military drills near its territorial waters.

Beijing and Moscow vetoed a US-led push at the UN last month to toughen sanctions against Pyongyang over its renewed ballistic missile launches.

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 South Korea's presidential national security office held a meeting to discuss the artillery shots later on Sunday and reiterated the US-allied country’s position of "responding calmly and sternly" to what it termed Pyongyang's provocations.

It added that Seoul did not immediately release its findings on the suspected artillery fire, as the shots were of a "traditional" type with relatively low altitude and short-range.

South Korea insists that Pyongyang’s forward-deployed long-range artillery guns pose a serious security threat to its populous metropolitan region, which is only 40-50 kilometers from the border with North Korea.

The latest suspected artillery tests follow claims by both Seoul and Washington that Pyongyang is preparing to carry out what would be its seventh nuclear test -- a move that US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said would provoke a "swift and forceful" response.

Kim announced plans last week to reinforce his nation’s military might during a major three-day political conference that wrapped up on Friday, insisting that the current security environment was “very serious.”

At the event, Pyongyang also appointed Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui as the country’s new top negotiator in the nuclear talks with Washington, KCNA reported Saturday.

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North Korea maintains that its weapons tests are a defensive measure against persisting military threats posed by the massive presence of US forces near its territorial waters and holding of joint war games with rival South Korea. It further insists that such war games are drills aimed at invading the country.  

North Korea has been reeling under crippling international sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which have affected the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country.

Former US President Donald Trump met with Kim Jong-un three times but refused to ease or lift sanctions in return for steps taken by Pyongyang toward denuclearization.

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