The US State Department has called for an end to all provocative actions against North Korean artillery fire. He also said he was still open to diplomacy for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Journalist Jo Eun-jung reports this.
The US State Department urged North Korea to stop provocations in response to artillery fire on the late night of the 18th.
Vedant Patel, a senior deputy spokesperson for the State Department, pointed out in a regular briefing on the 18th that he had witnessed what happened recently in response to a request for comment on “North Korean artillery fire”.
[녹취: 파텔 부대변인] “So, once again, we’ve seen it happen over the course of this week. We are aware of these reports and call on the DPRK to cease all provocative and threatening actions. “
“We are aware of such reports,” he said.
Patel also said the US remains open to diplomacy.
[녹취: 파텔 부대변인] “And we continue to believe and be open to dialogue without preconditions with the DPRK as it relates to our ultimate goal here which is the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”
“We still believe and are open to dialogue with North Korea without preconditions regarding our ultimate goal of complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” Patel said.
South Korean joint chiefs of staff said they observed that North Korea fired around 100 artillery rounds from the Jangsangot area in Hwanghae province to the West Sea at around 10pm on the 18th and 150 artillery rounds from Jangjeon area in Gangwon-do towards the East Sea from about 11pm
The Joint Chiefs of Staff pointed out that the bombing point was located within the maritime buffer zone north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in accordance with “Military Agreement 9.19”, a clear violation of the “Military Agreement 9.19 “.
Previously, on the 14th, North Korea fired a total of 560 artillery rounds in the East and West Sea buffer zones.
I’m Jo Eun-jung from VOA News.
