North Korea-South Korea tensions high as letters lodged with UN, howitzers spotted

Tensions between North Korea and South Korea are escalating as North Korea lodged a letter with the UN Security Council, disputing South Korea's claims of a landmine incident in September and displaying self-propelled 122-mm howitzers near the border. A Reuters witness observed three North Korean armored vehicles with gun barrels facing south during a visit to an observatory in South Korea on Monday.

Military experts have warned that exposing such artillery signals a readiness to enforce border policies through force instead of dialogue. North Korea's UN representative accused South Korea of fabricating the landmine incident to portray Pyongyang's border construction as a military incursion, threatening that violations of its sovereignty would lead to self-defence measures.

South Korea's Unification Ministry stated that the letter aligns with North Korea's existing stance and aims to justify its border line marking work. Despite the heightened tensions, Seoul has proposed dialogue to ease border tensions, while North Korea has repeated accusations of South Korea opening fire on its personnel, claiming it a violation of the UN Charter.