North Korea conducts artillery drills along disputed sea border, South Korea to stage similar drills
Seoul, Jan 5: North Korea fired artillery rounds near its disputed sea boundary with South Korea on Friday in violation of a fragile 2018 military agreement, officials said, prompting the South to plan similar drills.
The rivals' drills are the first in about a year and are expected to deepen their already-serious animosity.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired 200 rounds in the waters north of their disputed western sea boundary.
It called the North Korean drills a provocation, though South Korea suffered no damage. It said South Korea will take a corresponding step, but didn't elaborate.
Residents of South Korea's front-line island of Yeonpyeong said the South Korean military has asked them to evacuate because it plans to launch maritime firing drills later Friday.
The Koreas' sea boundary has been the site of several bloody inter-Korean sea battles since 1999. North Korea also launched artillery strikes on Yeonpyeong island, killing four South Koreans, in 2010.
The 2018 agreement requires the two Koreas to halt live-fire exercises and aerial surveillance in no-fly and buffer zones that they established along their border. But the deal is in danger of collapsing after the two Koreas began bickering since the North's first military spy satellite launch in November.
South Korea accused North Korea of restoring front-line guard posts that it had dismantled under the 2018 deal, after South Korea resumed front-line aerial surveillance in protest of the North's satellite launch.
Earlier Friday, North Korea's state media said leader Kim Jong Un ordered authorities to increase production of mobile launch vehicles for missiles because the country faces a looming military showdown with its enemies.
The official Korean Central News Agency said Kim made the comments during a visit to a factory that produces transport erector launchers, or TELs, without saying when he went or where the factory is.
TELs are mobile launch vehicles which give North Korea the ability to move missiles around its territory, making it more difficult for its adversaries to detect launches in advance. Some South Korean experts have estimated that North Korea has about 100-200 such vehicles.
Kim said the factory's role is "very important" in bolstering North Korea's national defense "given the prevailing grave situation that requires the country to be more firmly prepared for a military showdown with the enemy," KCNA reported.
"He took an important measure for expanding the production capacity of the factory," it said.
Experts say Kim is likely to increase weapons tests ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November because of a belief that a boosted military capability would increase his chances of wresting U.S. concessions if former President Donald Trump is reelected.
In a key ruling party meeting last week, Kim vowed to expand the country's nuclear arsenal, launch three additional military spy satellites and take other steps to build up the military this year to acquire "overwhelming" war readiness to cope with what he called U.S.-led confrontation. Kim cited the expansion of U.S.-South Korean military drills that sometimes involve U.S. long-range bombers and a nuclear-armed submarine.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'PM is scared of questions': Cong slams govt after IYC chief's arrest
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Indian Youth Congress chief Uday Bhanu Chib was arrested in connection with the shirtless protest at the AI Impact Summit, saying the PM is "scared" of dissent and questions being asked of him.
Chib was arrested by Delhi Police in connection with the shirtless protest staged by a group of youth wing members at the AI Impact Summit here last week, officials said on Tuesday.
Police have also stepped up security across key locations in the capital in anticipation of possible protests following Chib's arrest, which took the total number of people held in the case to eight.
ALSO READ: Leh-bound SpiceJet plane faces engine issue; returns to national capital
Asked about Chib's arrest, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera told PTI Videos, "It is the duty of the opposition to protest in a democracy but a dictator will never understand this."
"If you hear the speech of that dictator in Meerut recently you will get to know that the word democracy does not exist in his dictionary," Khera said, in a swipe at the prime minister.
Chib as well as other colleagues are being arrested from various parts of the country, Khera, who is in Bhopal for the party's Kisan Maha Chaupal against the India-US interim trade deal, said,
"This shows that Narendra Modi is scared of dissent and questions being asked of him. Narendra Modi is emerging as the most cowardly Prime Minister in the world. He is being blackmailed, he is a coward, he is scared," Khera alleged.
"It has been the Congress' history that no matter how much oppression we face, we will continue to raise issues of the people and will keep fighting with 'Ahimsa'," he said.
Police had earlier arrested seven Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers, including three from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, for the protest at the Bharat Mandapam last Friday. They have been identified as Jitendra Yadav, Raj Gujjar and Ajay Kumar.
In addition, IYC's Uttar Pradesh general secretary Ritik alias Monty Shukla has been detained from Lalitpur in the state.
Senior officers said additional force has been deployed at the sensitive points, particularly in New Delhi, a hotspot for political demonstrations.
Security has been tightened around the Tilak Marg police station, where Chib is presently held, while barricades have been put up at the strategic points, with anti-riot teams on standby.
Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) and additional companies of paramilitary forces have also been placed on alert to respond to any law and order situation, officials said.
Senior officers have directed the field staff to ensure that traffic movement remains smooth.
On Friday, a group of IYC workers staged a dramatic protest inside Hall No. 5 of the summit venue by removing their shirts to reveal T-shirts printed with slogans against the government and the India-US interim trade deal, before being whisked away by security personnel.
Police said the accused had registered online and obtained QR codes to gain entry into the venue.
The incident triggered a political slugfest, with the BJP calling it a "shameful act to tarnish India's image on the global stage", and the IYC defending it as a "peaceful" demonstration aimed at safeguarding national interests.
VIDEO | Delhi: On arrest of Indian Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib in connection with 'shirtless' protest staged by a group of IYC members at the AI Impact Summit last week, Congress leader Pawan Khera (@Pawankhera) says, "Protesting is the duty and responsibility of the… pic.twitter.com/2MOujnPDLX
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 24, 2026
