2 Koreas trade gunfire inside DMZ
Print Edition
NORTH and South Korean troops briefly exchanged fire yesterday in the latest in a series of minor border skirmishes that have raised military tensions on the divided peninsula.
The South’s defense ministry said the exchange inside the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two rivals lasted only 10 minutes.
There were no reported casualties.
Despite its name, the DMZ is probably the world’s most heavily militarized border, bristling with watchtowers and landmines.
Four kilometers wide, it straddles the Military Demarcation Line which marks the actual frontier.
A defense ministry official said a South Korean border patrol had spotted North Korean troops nearing the MDL.
“Verbal warnings were issued by loudspeaker and then warning shots were fired,” the official said.
“The North Koreans then opened fire on our troops, who returned fire,” he said.
An official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff said South Korean troops had issued verbal warnings or fired warning shots on two other occasions along the MDL in the past 24 hours.
There have been a series of border exchanges in recent weeks that have raised temperatures along the perennially volatile border.
On October 10 the two sides traded heavy machine-gun fire after North Korea’s military tried to shoot down some leaflet-laden balloons launched by South Korean anti-Pyongyang activists.
A few days before that, North and South Korean naval patrol boats had briefly exchanged warning fire near their disputed Yellow Sea border, which has been the site of numerous clashes in the past.
There were no casualties reported in either incident.
Last Wednesday, at North Korea’s instigation, the two Koreas held high-level military talks to address the tensions but they ended without agreement. The North later accused the South of arrogance and of seeking to undermine its peace overtures.
The border incidents have jeopardized a deal — reached during a surprise visit to South Korea by a top-ranking North Korean delegation earlier this month — to resume high-level talks suspended since February.
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