The fate of a 2018 inter-Korean agreement intended to lower tensions on the peninsula was hanging in the balance after the North again fired hundreds of artillery shells into a maritime "buffer zone" off its east and west coasts late Tuesday and Wednesday.
The South Korean military slammed the live-firing of around 450 artillery shells — which came just days after it lobbed hundreds of shells into the same areas — as “a clear violation” of the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA), while the North blamed Seoul for the move, calling it a “powerful military countermeasure” in response to South Korea’s annual Hoguk exercises.
In a statement released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, the country’s military criticized “the enemy's war drill” and called its artillery barrage “a serious warning” to Seoul.