North Korea fires projectile off east coast after rejecting DMZ — SkimNews
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- North Korea fired an unidentified projectile toward the sea off its east coast on October 3, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.
- Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, issued a Friday statement dismissing Seoul's demand for an apology over North Korean mines that caused a blast in the Demilitarised Zone.
- The DMZ blast seriously wounded two South Korean soldiers during a reconnaissance mission inside the 4-km-wide border that stretches across the Korean Peninsula.
- North Korea has sharply escalated hostility toward the South in recent years, disavowing unification as a national goal and branding South Korea its "primary foe."
Why it matters: The projectile launch came directly after Kim Yo Jong publicly rejected Seoul's apology demand over the DMZ mine blast that injured two South Korean soldiers, according to the source. With North Korea now labeling South Korea its "primary foe" and refusing to acknowledge responsibility for the explosion, the pairing of a verbal refusal and a military action within the same news cycle shows inter-Korean relations have collapsed to active provocation, not just rhetoric.
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