AUGUST 21 (Reuters) — The United Nations (U.N.) Secretary General’s associate spokesperson, Eri Kaneko, told reporters on Thursday (August 20) that the U.N. is closely following tensions between North and South Korea.
“On the exchange of artillery fire that we saw reports of today, is that we are closely following the developments with serious concern and we will revert as the situations evolves,” Kaneko said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his troops onto a war footing from 5 p.m on Friday (August 21) after Pyongyang issued an ultimatum to Seoul to halt anti-North propaganda broadcasts by Saturday afternoon or face military action.
Tension on the divided peninsula escalated on Thursday when North Korea fired shells into South Korea to protest against the loudspeaker broadcasts from the Korean border. The South responded with its own artillery barrage.
Both sides said there were no casualties or damage in their territory.
The North’s shelling came after it had demanded last weekend that South Korea end the broadcasts or face military action – a relatively rare case of it following up on its frequent threats against the South.
Its 48-hour ultimatum to halt the broadcasts, delivered in a letter to the South Korean Defense Ministry via a joint military communications channel, was also uncharacteristically specific.
A South Korean military official said the broadcasts would continue.
