Major South Korean media outlet Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday, Jan. 4, that North Korean media – primarily, the state-owned Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) – condemned recent South Korean military exercises, claiming that the exercises are "self-destructive" and accusing South Koreans of being "warmongers."
"There will be the highest risk of clashes this year, as invading forces, such as the United States and Japan, will crawl into the peninsula under the South Korean puppet regime's plea and active cooperation and they will likely stage unprecedented provocative war moves such as a nuclear strike," claimed the KCNA in one of its recent reports. (Related: South Korea accuses North Korea of supplying Russia with over 1M ARTILLERY SHELLS in exchange for advanced technologies.)
Seoul and Washington recently concluded a week-long series of military exercises near the border with the North. These exercises took place from Dec. 29, 2023, to Jan. 4 and involved more than 110 large combat weapons, including South Korean tanks, anti-aircraft platforms and other artillery systems supported by U.S. military attack aircraft and armored fighting vehicles. These weapons systems conducted joint combat firing drills near the border, which Pyongyang called "reckless."
On Wednesday, Jan. 3, one day before the exercises ended, the Republic of Korea Navy conducted live-firing drills and anti-submarine maneuvers in internationally recognized South Korean waters to the east, west and south of the country, involving destroyers, frigates and corvettes.
"With the instinct of confrontation deep in their bones, the puppets [South Korea] again marked the new year by making the aggressive choice that stokes war," said the KCNA in a commentary, noting that "2024 is the year of the highest risk of conflict."
KCNA further claimed that, if South Korea continues with its military exercises, it will face the "most painful moments they cannot even imagine," suggesting a retaliatory nuclear strike against Seoul.
In October last year, the U.S. and South Korea conducted their first-ever trilateral aerial military exercises with Japan in October. These exercises involved an American B-52 bomber and three F-16s flying alongside two Korean F-15K strike fighters and four Japanese F-2 fighter jets.
North Korea responds to military exercises by conducting its own drills along the border
In response to the military exercises, the North Korean military, the Korean People's Army, conducted its own military drills which resulted in at least 200 artillery rounds being fired dangerously close to the western border island of Yeonpyeong.
North Korea claims these are part of its frontline maritime firing exercise, the first of its kind in over a year. Experts warn that Pyongyang will likely intensify a series of weapons tests in the coming months in response to parliamentary elections scheduled in the South in April and the U.S. presidential election in November.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that the 200 North Korean artillery rounds landed in the waters directly north of the disputed western sea boundary between the two nations. The South reportedly suffered no damages, but spokesperson Lee Sung Joon called the North's artillery firing drill "an act of provocation that threatens peace and heightens tensions on the Korean Peninsula."
South Korea responded to the artillery by ordering civilians in Yeonpyeong as well as in the nearby border island of Baengyeong to evacuate to shelters. Lee said the South Korean military would also respond to the North's artillery firing but refused to specify what that response would be.
Watch this clip from political commentator Nate Polson warning of a possible war brewing in the Korean Peninsula following Pyongyang's decision to fire artillery shells in the direction of a South Korean island.
This video is from the Pool Pharmacy channel on Brighteon.com.
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