Some experts say Kim may seek to further dial up pressure in an election year in South Korea and the United States. He also accused South Korea of frequently violating what he decried as North Korean territorial waters with its maritime patrols and interdiction of third-party ships. He ordered his navy to strengthen its defense posture in waters near the South Korean border islands of Baekryeong and Yeonpyeong, where a North Korean artillery bombardment killed four people in 2010. North Korea insists upon a boundary that encroaches deeply into waters currently controlled by South Korea. Following a separate, year-end political conference at which Kim accused South Korea of hostility, North Korea in early January fired hundreds of artillery rounds on three consecutive days near the western sea boundary with South Korea.

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Persons: Kim Jong Un, Kim, KCNA Organizations: North, Korean Central News Agency, Command, Supreme People’s Assembly, Washington Locations: SEOUL, South Korea, Wonsan, United States, Korea, Baekryeong, Korean, U.S, North Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow, Beijing