N. Korea fires artillery shells for three consecutive days into waters off its west coast

사흘 동안 서해서 포사격 위협한 北 김정은 “대한민국은 주적“ The “main enemy.“ After defining the two Koreas as hostile countries in a state of war, other threatening remarks have come from the mouth of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. This was while he was making a two-day visit to a munitions plant earlier this week. North Korea has been escalating tensions more than ever by firing artillery shells into waters off its western coast for three consecutive days. It led South Korea to declare there will no longer be a buffer zone between the two Koreas, scrapping the inter-Korean military agreement that was made on September 19th, 2018. What could be Kim Jong-un’s intentions be behind such moves? For this we have invited Doctor Go Myong-hyun, a Senior Fellow from the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Doctor Go, welcome. We also have Shreyas Reddy, Correspondent at NK News Seoul. Good to have you with us, Shreyas. (GO) Q0. The latest news first, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this week went to inspect major munitions factories and there he said that South Korea is the regime’s “main enemy.“ Are such remarks readily used, or does it hint at something different? (SHREYAS) Q1. This came after North Korea’s military unleashed hundreds of artillery shells from north of the South Korean front-line islands of Yeonpyeongdo and Baengnyeongdo for three consecutive days. Could you first walk us through these events? (GO) Q2. Could there have been a specific reason why the North chose to fire artillery shells? And why the provocations in the first place? (SHREYAS) Q3. Interestingly, the sister of Kim Jong-un, Kim Yo-jong claimed that the artillery shells that the South Korean military accused the North of firing on Saturday were in fact, just the sounds of explosives. But this isn’t true, right? Could you tell us more about these remarks? (GO) Q4. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said Kim Yo-jong’s statements are nothing more than a rudimentary form of psychological warfare to undermine the South Korean military’s capabilities. What is your view on the reason behind Kim’s remarks? (SHREYAS) Q5. Artillery shells fired by the regime landed in the waters north of the Northern Limit Line within the designated buffer zones that were mutually agreed by both Koreas as part of September 19th agreement. And so, the South Korean military announced that the agreement is now practically terminated. Could you tell us more about this? Is the buffer zone officially no longer being recognized? (GO) Q6. The word is that North Korea will continue with different types of provocations including a 7th nuclear test. What is your forecast, and in what ways should South Korea tackle this? (SHREYAS) Q7. On the same day that North Korea fired more than 200 artillery rounds, Kim Jong-un sent a letter of condolences to Japan following the earthquake there last week. Were there previous cases of such a letter being sent by the North Korean leader? (GO) Q8. Regarding this, many say North Korea’s goal by sending such a message of sympathy is to weaken the trilateral partnership. Is that the case? Could you tell us what Pyongyang’s intentions could have been? (SHREYAS) Q9. Considering that Tokyo continues to search for diplomatic resolutions regarding North Korea’s abductions of Japanese citizens, might Pyongyang and Tokyo’s relationship see any significant improvement in the near future? (GO) Q10. Major elections including the U.S. Presidential election are scheduled for this year, and if North Korea improves its ties with both Japan and the U.S., what position would South Korea be forced into? Unfortunately, that’s all the time we have for today’s edition. Thank you Shreyas, and Doctor Go for your time and insights. We appreciate it. #SouthKorea #NorthKorea #KimJongun #Buffer_zone #대한민국 #북한 #김정은 #완충_구역 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스 📣 Facebook : 📣 Twitter : 📣 Homepage : 2024-01-10, 18:30 (KST)