N.Korea Fires 130 Artillery Rounds into Sea

North Korea fired about 130 artillery rounds into the maritime buffer zones in the East and West seas on Monday. 

The Joint Chiefs of Staff here said Monday the shells were fired from multiple rocket launchers in Kumgang, Kangwon Province and Jangsangot, South Hwanghae Province from around 3 p.m. 

It added that firing them into the buffer zones is a clear violation of a 2018 cross-border military agreement. 

"We are keeping a close watch on the North’s military movements in close cooperation with the U.S.," the JCS warned. 

The South Korean military sent repeated warning messages that the provocation should stop immediately. 

Monday's firing was the latest in an unending series of provocations this year. A little over two weeks ago, the North launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, and a month ago it fired some 80 artillery rounds into the maritime buffer zone in the East Sea from Kumgang. On Nov. 3, it fired five short-range ballistic missiles in protest against the joint South Korea-U.S. air drills. 

The North blamed South Korea-U.S. artillery drills on Monday, but they were conducted in an inland area to honor the cross-border military agreement. 

"We severely warn the enemy side to be prudent, not kindling the flame of escalation of tension unnecessary in the area around the front," the North Korean Army said in a statement.