G20 fears after firing at Korean border
Source: Agencies |
October 30, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
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NORTH Korea fired two rounds toward South Korea at their tense border yesterday and South Korean troops immediately fired back, highlighting the security problems faced by Seoul as it prepares to host world leaders at the G20 economic summit next month.
An official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said the exchange of fire at the heavily guarded border began when North Korean troops fired at a South Korean guard post in the Demilitarized Zone.
There were no South Korean injuries and it was unclear whether it was an accident or an intentional provocation, the official said.
The guard post is 118 kilometers northeast of Seoul.
14.5mm rounds
The firing of the 14.5mm rounds came hours after North Korea criticized South Korea for rejecting a proposal to hold military talks and vowed to retaliate.
Shooting incidents are infrequent at the border. The last such incident was in 2007 when South Korea said North Korean soldiers opened fire and its troops retaliated.
No South Korean soldiers were hurt in that incident and it was unclear if anyone was injured on the other side.
Despite the exchange of fire, previously arranged reunions of hundreds of families separated by the Korean War will go ahead today in North Korea as scheduled, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said. The ministry handles South Korea's relations with North Korea.
Yesterday's spike in tensions came two weeks ahead of the G20 summit in Seoul, which is just 51 kilometers from the border.
Last week, North Korea's military proposed holding talks with South Korea over anti-North Korean leafletting by South Korean activists and other South Korean propaganda activities, North Korea's military said in a statement yesterday carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.
It warned of "merciless physical retaliation" for not accepting talks, and said South Korea will realize "what catastrophic impact their rejection of dialogue will have on the North-South relations."
The proposed talks did not take place as the two Koreas remain at odds over the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said.
In May, a multinational investigation led by Seoul concluded that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine sank the 1,200-ton Cheonan warship.
North Korea has denied involvement in the sinking, which killed 46 South Korean sailors.
The sinking heightened tensions between the rival Koreas, which remain technically at war because their 1950-53 war ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.
An official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said the exchange of fire at the heavily guarded border began when North Korean troops fired at a South Korean guard post in the Demilitarized Zone.
There were no South Korean injuries and it was unclear whether it was an accident or an intentional provocation, the official said.
The guard post is 118 kilometers northeast of Seoul.
14.5mm rounds
The firing of the 14.5mm rounds came hours after North Korea criticized South Korea for rejecting a proposal to hold military talks and vowed to retaliate.
Shooting incidents are infrequent at the border. The last such incident was in 2007 when South Korea said North Korean soldiers opened fire and its troops retaliated.
No South Korean soldiers were hurt in that incident and it was unclear if anyone was injured on the other side.
Despite the exchange of fire, previously arranged reunions of hundreds of families separated by the Korean War will go ahead today in North Korea as scheduled, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said. The ministry handles South Korea's relations with North Korea.
Yesterday's spike in tensions came two weeks ahead of the G20 summit in Seoul, which is just 51 kilometers from the border.
Last week, North Korea's military proposed holding talks with South Korea over anti-North Korean leafletting by South Korean activists and other South Korean propaganda activities, North Korea's military said in a statement yesterday carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.
It warned of "merciless physical retaliation" for not accepting talks, and said South Korea will realize "what catastrophic impact their rejection of dialogue will have on the North-South relations."
The proposed talks did not take place as the two Koreas remain at odds over the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said.
In May, a multinational investigation led by Seoul concluded that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine sank the 1,200-ton Cheonan warship.
North Korea has denied involvement in the sinking, which killed 46 South Korean sailors.
The sinking heightened tensions between the rival Koreas, which remain technically at war because their 1950-53 war ended with a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.
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