DPRK accuses South Korea of misjudging its military moves

SEOUL -- A senior official of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) accused the South Korean military of misjudging its military moves on Sunday.

South Korea claimed that the DPRK conducted artillery shelling northwest of Yeonpyeong Island Saturday afternoon, and the shells dropped in the sea buffer zone north of the so-called "Northern Limit Line (NLL)" in the western waters off the Korean Peninsula.

Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, said the DPRK detonated blasting powder simulating the sound of artillery fire, a move designed to observe the reactions of the South Korean military. Kim's statement was carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Calling the reactions by South Korea "falling clearly in line with the DPRK's expectations," Kim said that South Korea misjudged the blasting sound as that of gunfire and a provocation, accusing South Korea of falsely claiming that the shells dropped in the sea buffer zone north of the NLL in the western waters, the KCNA report said.

Kim warned that "the DPRK forces will launch an immediate military strike if the enemy makes even a slight provocation," it added.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff dismissed Kim's statement mocking the detection capabilities of its military as "low-grade" and "psychological warfare," according to a report by Yonhap news agency on Sunday.

The two countries have long been bickering over the maritime boundary in the western waters off the peninsula. South Korea has set the sea border by designating the NLL, which the DPRK has never officially recognized.