North Korea Conducts Artillery Drills Along Disputed Sea Border

05 January 2024, North Korea: A picture released by the North Korean state news agency (KCNA) on 05 January 2024 shows Kim Jong Un, North Korea's ruler, visiting a factory for mobile launchers for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with his daughter. Photo: Uncredited/KCNA/KNS/dpa
05 January 2024, North Korea: A picture released by the North Korean state news agency (KCNA) on 05 January 2024 shows Kim Jong Un, North Korea's ruler, visiting a factory for mobile launchers for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with his daughter. Photo: Uncredited/KCNA/KNS/dpa
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North Korea Conducts Artillery Drills Along Disputed Sea Border

05 January 2024, North Korea: A picture released by the North Korean state news agency (KCNA) on 05 January 2024 shows Kim Jong Un, North Korea's ruler, visiting a factory for mobile launchers for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with his daughter. Photo: Uncredited/KCNA/KNS/dpa
05 January 2024, North Korea: A picture released by the North Korean state news agency (KCNA) on 05 January 2024 shows Kim Jong Un, North Korea's ruler, visiting a factory for mobile launchers for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with his daughter. Photo: Uncredited/KCNA/KNS/dpa

North Korea fired artillery rounds Friday near its disputed sea boundary with South Korea in violation of a fragile 2018 military agreement, officials said, prompting the South to plan similar drills.

North Korea’s front-line maritime firing exercise was the first of its kind in about a year. Experts say North Korea will likely intensify a run of weapons tests in the coming months, escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula ahead of the South's parliamentary elections in April and the United States presidential election in November.

According to The Associated Press, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired 200 rounds in the waters north of their disputed western sea boundary. It said South Korea suffered no damages.

Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung Joon told a televised briefing that the North's artillery firing was “an act of provocation that threatens peace and heightens tensions on the Korean Peninsula." Lee said South Korea strongly urges North Korea to stop provocations.

He said South Korea's military will take an unspecified step in response to the North's artillery firing while closely monitoring North Korean moves in close coordination with the United States.

Lee didn't elaborate what corresponding step South Korea would take. But residents of South Korea’s front-line island of Yeonpyeong said the South Korean military has asked them to evacuate because it plans to launch maritime firing drills later Friday.



Vance Criticizes Germany’s Free Speech Laws in Remarks to Conservatives

 Vice President JD Vance, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2025, at the National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP)
Vice President JD Vance, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2025, at the National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP)
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Vance Criticizes Germany’s Free Speech Laws in Remarks to Conservatives

 Vice President JD Vance, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2025, at the National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP)
Vice President JD Vance, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2025, at the National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP)

US Vice President JD Vance has criticized Germany's free speech laws during an appearance at a conservative gathering outside Washington, linking the country's limits against hate speech to American troops stationed there.

German law sets restrictions on free speech, including the long-standing ban on Holocaust denial and any glorification of the country's Nazi past.

The limits are an effort to curb extremism and incitement, and have led to authorities policing the internet for hate speech and arresting the people allegedly posting, and reposting, such comments.

“There are thousands upon thousands of American troops in Germany today. Do you think that the American taxpayer is going to stand for that, if you get thrown in jail in Germany for posting a mean tweet? Of course they’re not,” Vance told activists gathered Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

There are nearly 84,000 US service members in the European Theater, according to the US Department of Defense. The figure fluctuates, however, and has increased since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war on Feb. 24, 2022.

The US military is stationed throughout Germany, according to US European Command, including at Ramstein Air Base. A count of US service members in Germany wasn't immediately available on Friday.

Vance's remarks followed his speech earlier this month at the Munich Security Conference, where he lectured European leaders about the state of democracy and free speech across the continent. His comments were met with rebukes from multiple European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“Obviously we’re going to continue to have important alliances with Europe,” Vance told CPAC moderator Mercedes Schlapp. “But I really do think the strength of those alliances is doing to depend on whether we take our societies in the right direction.”

Vance then claimed that “Germany’s entire defense is subsidized by the American taxpayers.”