South Korean troops fired warning shots at a group of North Korean soldiers earlier this week after they crossed the heavily guarded border zone separating the two countries, the country's military said Tuesday, amid ratcheting tensions between the two countries.
FILE PHOTO: South Korean soldiers fired at North Korean troops on Sunday for violating the line of ... [+]
According to local media reports, the South Korean Military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said around 20 North Korean soldiers crossed the military demarcation line that runs between the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two countries.
The breach took place somewhere in the central section of the border at around 12.30 p.m. on Sunday.
South Korean troops guarding the border responded by broadcasting warnings and firing warning shots, after which the North Koreans returned to their side without any further confrontation.
South Korean officials believe the breach of the border was unintentional and happened while the North Koreans were conducting tasks inside the DMZ.
Authorities in Pyongyang have not yet commented on the incident.
While the border violation appears to be inadvertent, it comes at a time of heightened border tensions between North and South Korea. Late last month, North Korea flew hundreds of balloons carrying trash and feces across the border into the South. The South Korea military’s chemical and biological warfare response team inspected the balloons after they fell on their territory and issued an alert asking people to avoid them. Pyongyang said the balloons were in response to a long-running effort by South Korean activists and North Korean defectors using balloons to deliver propaganda material to their country. These materials usually include leaflets criticizing the Kim Jong-un regime and USB thumb drives with South Korean media like K-pop songs and K-dramas. The first trash balloon incident took place one day after a North Korean rocket carrying a spy satellite exploded shortly after launch. Since the start of this month, North Korea has flown hundreds more such trash balloons into South Korean territory—angering officials in Seoul. South Korea retaliated by suspending a 2018 deal between the two countries to scale down border tensions.
N. Korean soldiers briefly cross inter-Korean border, return after warning shots (Yonhap News)
Will North Korea fly trash balloons into South Korea again? A look at rising tensions between them (Associated Press)