North-South Korea tensions high as letters lodged with UN, howitzers spotted

Tension between North Korea and South Korea is running high this week after Pyongyang sent a letter to the UN Security Council, repeating accusations that Seoul fabricated a September landmine incident, and after North Korean howitzers were spotted close to the border.

A witness at an observatory in South Korea overlooking the heavily armed border on Monday saw three North Korean armoured vehicles positioned in clear view near the frontier.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency on Monday identified three vehicles as self-propelled 122-mm howitzers, saying their deployment near the border marked a rare public display of such artillery.

The UN Command, which oversees the DMZ, has said a North Korean mine across the line violated the armistice. Pyongyang has denied responsibility. The UN Command on Monday said it would not comment on specific military activities.

A spokesperson for South Korea’s unification ministry said that the North Korean letter appears to repeat North Korea’s existing position and seeks to justify its so-called border line marking work.

The ministry had no separate comment on the placement of the armoured vehicles. Seoul has proposed dialogue with North Korea to defuse border tensions.

North Korea’s letter also repeated accusations that South Korea had opened fire on North Korean personnel, calling that a violation of the UN Charter, which bars the threat or use of force against another state’s territorial integrity.

In 2015, there was a similar incident in which South Korean troops were injured by North Korean mines. Then, Seoul resumed anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts across the DMZ, triggering a military standoff. After North Korea expressed regret, the standoff ended with a high-level inter-Korean agreement.