North Korea artillery drill targets South

SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN ON FRIDAY UNVEILED FRESH UNILATERAL SANCTIONS AGAINST PYONGYANG OVER ITS NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAMME

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un conducted a large-scale artillery drill simulating an attack on the South Korean capital and other targets, as Seoul and Tokyo on Friday unveiled fresh unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons programme.

The military exercise, involving multiple batteries of frontline heavy artillery units, targeted five border islands, as well as “reactionary ruling organs” in Seoul and other cities, the North’s official KCNA news Agency said.

It took place on Thursday, just hours after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a new resolution imposing tough new sanctions on North Korea following its fifth nuclear test in September.

The UN resolution, which was spearheaded by the US and came after three months of tough negotiations with fellow veto-wielding council member China, caps the North’s annual coal exports -- its top external revenue source.

“If a war breaks out, such a deadly strike should be inflicted upon the South Korean forces to completely break their will of counteraction at the start and make a clean sweep of them,” KCNA quoted Kim Jong-Un as saying during the artillery drill.