S. Korea fires back against N. Korea’s West Sea shelling

North Korea launched an intense barrage on Friday morning, firing over 200 artillery shells into the maritime buffer zone in the West Sea, north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL). In response, the South Korean military conducted artillery fire within our West Sea maritime buffer zone in the afternoon. Notably, this marks the first instance of our military employing artillery in the maritime buffer zone since the signing of the inter-Korean military agreement on Sept. 19, 2018.

South and North Korea reached the Sept. 19 Agreement, which included establishing a 135-km section in the West Sea and an 80-km section in the East Sea around the Northern Limit Line (NLL) as a buffer zone, along with suspending artillery fire. In light of North Korea's recent provocations, we are currently assessing whether the act of firing artillery into the buffer zone signifies a departure from the provisions of the Sep. 19 Agreement. “Our response to North Korea involves concrete actions, not mere rhetoric,” a South Korean senior government official said. “We will consistently retaliate in proportion to North Korean provocations, adhering to the principle of 'an eye for an eye.'"

Commencing at 3 p.m. on that day, the military deployed K-9 self-propelled artillery from the Yeonpyeong Island Marine Corps and conducted artillery fire within our maritime buffer zone. Notably, in the period between October and November 2022, North Korea engaged in large-scale provocations, involving the launch of multiple rocket launchers, coastal artillery, and missiles within the maritime buffer zone of North Korea's east and west seas on six occasions.

During those instances, our military responded primarily by issuing notices to North Korea, citing violations of the military agreement, or issuing warnings. Only in November of the same year did our military escalate its response. When a missile fired by North Korea crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea, our military deployed a fighter jet and fired three air-to-ground missiles into North Korea's high seas. This is the first occasion on which our military took direct action by firing into the maritime buffer zone.


Jin-Woo Shin niceshin@donga.com