Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus urged the leadership of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea to "show restraint and refrain from any steps that could lead to further escalation of tensions in the region." This was the response of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry on November 24 to reports of a major armed incident, occurred at the border of the two republics on November 23.
As explained by the Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Savinykh, the deaths of soldiers and civilians on the island Enphendo in the result of shelling by the DPRK arouses «urgent concern and deep regret.»
«Belarus resolutely condemns any attempt to influence the processes of settlement on the Korean Peninsula by military force, stands for full implementation of inter — Korean agreements on ceasefire and non-aggression,» Andrei Savinykh said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that Belarus was «closely monitoring the situation on the Korean Peninsula.» «We look forward to a speedy normalization of the situation, the strengthening of peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, the continuation of inter-Korean dialogue based on international law,» Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
According to Telegraf, the island Enphendo in the Yellow Sea, representing the disputed boundary line between the the DPRK and South Korea, suffered a major armed incidents on November 23, resulted in four death casualties and more than a dozen injured.
Official Seoul said that the island was shelled from the North and the Southerners fired back. DPRK, in its turn, insists that the shooting on the island was a response to hostile actions by South Korea. South Korea said after the incident that it’s planning to send more militants to the five islands, located on the border with DPRK.
