Conflict with South Korea: North Korea shells buffer zone

The government in Pyongyang is heating up tensions with South Korea: Dozens of artillery shells landed in the buffer zone. During a visit to Seoul, Federal President Steinmeier asked North Korea to stop the tests.

North Korea continued weapons testing overnight. According to the South Korean military, 80 artillery shells landed in the buffer zone of both countries. South Korea’s chiefs of staff said the shelling was a “clear violation” of the agreement that established the zone in 2018.

Pyongyang’s “provocations” violated the “commandments of humanity,” said a spokeswoman for South Korea’s unification ministry. The government in Seoul condemned the “continuing threats” based on North Korea’s “reckless development of nuclear weapons and missiles”.

Nuclear-capable long-range missile tested?

North Korea had fired more than two dozen missiles since Wednesday, fueling tensions. According to the South Korean military, this probably included a nuclear-capable missile with a range of several thousand kilometers. According to the General Staff, it came “closest” to South Korean territorial waters than any missile since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

Today the UN Security Council is to deal with North Korea. UN resolutions prohibit the self-declared nuclear power from testing ballistic missiles of any range, which, depending on the design, can also carry a nuclear warhead.

USA and South Korea expect nuclear weapons tests

The governments in Washington and Seoul have been warning for months that North Korea could carry out a nuclear weapons test in the near future. It would be the first such test since 2017.

At the beginning of September, North Korea passed a nuclear weapons law that provides for the right to carry out a nuclear first strike in self-defense. The status as a nuclear power is also “irreversibly” anchored in it, as reported by the country’s state media.

In response to the latest missile tests, the USA called on the international community to fully implement the sanctions against Pyongyang and extended the joint military maneuvers with South Korea under the name “Vigilant Storm” until Saturday.

Steinmeier calls for a stop to weapon tests

During a visit to North Korea’s Seoul, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier sharply condemned the latest missile tests and demanded that they be stopped. An unprecedented series of tests has been observed since the beginning of the year, and the rocket salvos of the past few days have made the situation considerably worse, said Steinmeier after talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. “I’ll say it in no uncertain terms: this escalation is unacceptable and the Pyongyang regime alone is responsible for it.”

He called on North Korea to “engage in serious negotiations to dismantle its nuclear missile program.”

The UN Security Council is due to hold an emergency session today to consider the situation on the Korean peninsula. The USA, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Norway and Albania requested a meeting of the most powerful UN body.