Tensions high as North Korea howitzer spotted near South Korean border

South Korean Army K-9 self-propelled howitzers conduct a live-fire drill at an artillery range in Cheorwon as part of a training exercise held last week. | South Korean Defense Ministry / AFP-JIJI

Oct 26, 2026

SEOUL – Tensions between North Korea and South Korea are running high this week after Pyongyang sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council, repeating accusations that Seoul fabricated a September land mine incident, and after a North Korean howitzer was spotted close to the border.

The presence of the self-propelled 122-mm howitzer near the border as reported by Yonhap news agency on Sunday marks a rare visible deployment of such artillery.

“It is highly unusual (for North Korea) to expose its self-propelled artillery so conspicuously,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University in Seoul.

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