North Korean artillery pointed south stirs concern at border\nobservatory<\/p>\n
GIMPO, South Korea: Visitors to a South Korean observatory that\noverlooks North Korea said on Tuesday (Oct 27) that the appearance of\nartillery pieces with their barrels pointed south on the border was\nworrying, as tensions between the two countries intensify.<\/p>\n
The two Koreas have traded barbs and strengthened their postures\nalong the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating them since September,\nafter a mine blast there wounded three South Korean soldiers. South\nKorea has demanded that North Korea apologise, while Pyongyang has\naccused Seoul of fabricating the incident.<\/p>\n
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korea\u2019s leader, said last\nThursday that Pyongyang would place loudspeakers that can blast\nanti-South Korean propaganda on standby along the entire border within\ndays and had put unspecified new countermeasures on alert.<\/p>\n
On Friday, South Korean media photographed an armoured vehicle in\nclear view near the frontier. By Monday, there were three with their gun\nbarrels pointed south, according to a Reuters witness.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d only seen on TV that North Korea had deployed 122mm artillery,\nbut seeing the area in person makes me realise just how real the danger\nis,\u201d Jang Gil-seong, an 83-year-old war veteran who fought in the\nVietnam War, said outside the Aegibong observatory, which overlooks\nNorth Korea\u2019s Kaephung county from about 1.4 km away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really concerned about how much South Korea will need to do to\nprepare for and respond to this threat in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
The DMZ remains a draw for foreign and local tourists despite\nperiodic flare-ups in tensions between the two Koreas, which remain\ntechnically at war.<\/p>\n
Hannah Robbins, a 28-year-old tourist from Canada, said her tour\ngroup had only found out about the artillery pieces after their guide\ntold them about the weapons at the observatory.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a bit scared obviously,\u201d she said. \u201cThe tour guide was like\n\u2018don\u2019t worry, they won\u2019t shoot\u2019 but then it\u2019s a bit of a worry that we\nhave right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Analysts identified the weapons as M-1981 122mm self-propelled\nhowitzers, an older North Korean artillery system believed to have\nentered service in the late 1970s.<\/p>\n
They have a maximum range of about 24km, putting areas such as the\nSouth Korean town of Gimpo where the observatory is located within\nreach, although they are less powerful than newer artillery systems,\nsaid Yang Uk, a military expert at Seoul\u2019s Asan Institute for Policy\nStudies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would view this more as a display of firepower than a meaningful\nincrease in combat capability,\u201d Yang said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that it was positioned where it can be easily seen suggests\nit was deployed to be noticed.\u201d<\/p>\n
South Korea\u2019s military also described the weapons as an older\nsystem.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile North Korea has mentioned new weapons systems in its recent\nstatements, we believe that this cannot be considered as such,\u201d Seoul\u2019s\nJoint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Jang Do-young told a briefing on\nTuesday.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/north-korean-artillery-pointed-south-raises-concern-at-border-observatory-1793087411", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }