South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said, as reported by the South Korean Kyodo news agency, that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) launched around 170 artillery projectiles toward the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea on Friday.

The DPRK launched 130 artillery projectiles into the Yellow Sea and 40 more into the Sea of Japan around dawn on Friday, according to the report. The shells struck outside the exclusive economic zone of South Korea.

South Korean President Yoo Suk-yeol criticized the DPRK's missile launches, considering them a violation of the 2018 Comprehensive Military Agreement which defined a maritime buffer zone between Seoul and Pyongyang in order to decrease military tensions.

"We're looking into everything one by one. But it's correct that it's a violation of the Sept. 19 accord," Yonhap news agency quoted Yoon saying.

Furthermore, Yoon stated that Seoul was building "a readiness posture against North Korea's provocations."

Additionally, according to the Yonhap, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official stated on Friday that Seoul had unilaterally sanctioned 15 North Korean individuals and 16 institutions. In the event of future provocations, the ministry stated that it will explore new penalties against the DPRK.

On a similar note, Japan has also criticized the DPRK's 27th ballistic missile launch since the beginning of 2022, according to Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada on Friday.

"North Korea is launching missiles with unprecedented frequency this year. This is the eighth launch since the end of September alone. North Korea is [behaving] provocatively and unilaterally raising tensions. These actions on the part of North Korea threaten the peace and security of our country and the region and are absolutely unacceptable. They also violate UN resolutions. Our country has strongly protested and condemned [these actions] via the embassy in Beijing," Hamada said as he spoke at a press conference in Tokyo.

South Korean statements came following a series of US-South Korean joint drills, that often also included Japan and provoked the DPRK pushing the already-intense relationship between the two towards escalation.

Earlier on Thursday, October 13, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korea's armed forces, that the DPRK has again tested a ballistic missile today.

"North Korea launched a ballistic missile of an unidentified type in the direction of the Sea of Japan," the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

On Friday, October 7, the DPRK had accused Seoul of engaging in "provocative action" by "inciting military tension" near their common borders, state media reported.

According to a statement from the Korean Central News Agency, citing a spokesman from the DPRK army, South Korea had on Thursday conducted "artillery fire for about 10 hours near the forward defense area of the KPA Fifth Corps."

The statement said that the KPA "took strong military countermeasures" in response to the "provocative action," adding that the KPA "sends a stern warning to the South Korean military inciting military tension in the frontline area with reckless action."

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