Seoul will 'pay dearly' for military drill: Pyongyang

Seoul, Aug 19: North Korea warned on Friday that South Korea will pay dearly for its largest live-fire artillery drill on Thursday near the border, the media reported.

The Kim Jong-un regime described the drill, which brought together 300 artillery pieces from 49 battalions, as the largest shelling provocation in history, EFE news quoted a statement as saying.

“It is the first time that they mobilised a lot of artillery units in all sectors of the front, not some corps or units in an area to stage such shelling drill,” and “will have to pay dearly for their reckless military provocations”, it said.

North Korea accused its neighbour of aggravating the situation on the Korean peninsula and leading it into its worst phase in history, ahead of Seoul and Washington’s joint Ulchi Freedom Guardian military drill.

Pyongyang and Seoul remain technically at war since the Korean War (1950-53) ended with an armistice that was never replaced with a definitive peace treaty.  (IANS)