North Korea displays howitzer near its border with South Korea
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Daily Maverick
North Korea has positioned a 122-millimetre self-propelled howitzer near its border with South Korea, where three armoured vehicles have also been observed. Pyongyang told the UN that any violation of its sovereignty would prompt self-defence measures, according to Reuters and the Yonhap news agency.
North Korea displayed a 122 mm self-propelled howitzer near the border with South Korea, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Sunday. A Reuters witness confirmed the artillery piece was present on Monday; it could be seen from a South Korean observatory facing the heavily militarised border area.
Reuters also observed three North Korean armoured vehicles facing south and around 20 to 30 soldiers working to put up fences in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ). Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University in Seoul, described the public display of the artillery as unusual. He said Pyongyang intended to show that it planned to enforce its border policy by force and warn Seoul against any escalation.
The howitzer’s presence comes amid a dispute over an explosion in the DMZ on 21 September. South Korea told the UN Security Council that the explosion had been caused by a mine laid by North Korean soldiers and constituted a violation of the Korean War armistice. The United Nations Command, which is responsible for overseeing the area, also concluded that a North Korean mine had breached the armistice; Pyongyang denies responsibility.
In a letter sent on Sunday, North Korea’s representative to the UN accused Seoul of using the incident to portray border demarcation work as a military incursion. Pyongyang threatened to take self-defence measures in the event of any infringement of its sovereignty. South Korea’s Ministry of Unification said the letter repeated the North’s usual position and sought to justify its border work. Seoul has proposed dialogue to ease tensions.
