WORLD

S. Korea fires warning shots after new border incursion

Several North Korean soldiers cross the demilitarized zone.

DT · Jun 22, 2024, 12:20 AM

(FILE) A South Korean soldier stands guard near a military facility (R, green box) where loudspeakers dismantled in 2018 used to be, near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju on June 11, 2024. South Korean troops fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the border this week, Seoul's military said on June 11, with tensions high over Pyongyang's trash-carrying balloons and the South's retaliatory loudspeaker campaign. — ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP

SEOUL (AFP) — Seoul’s military said Friday it had fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified border in the third such incursion this month.

The nuclear-armed North has been reinforcing the border in recent months, adding tactical roads and laying more landmines, which has led to “casualties” among its troops due to accidental explosions, South Korea has said.

On Thursday morning, “several North Korean soldiers who were working inside the DMZ (demilitarized zone) on the central front line crossed the Military Demarcation Line,” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

“After our military’s warning broadcasts and warning shots, the North Korean soldiers retreated back northward,” they added.

Similar incidents took place on 9 June and Tuesday this week, with Seoul’s military saying both incursions appeared to be accidental.

The two Koreas have also been locked in a tit-for-tat “balloon war” with an activist in the South confirming Friday that he had floated more balloons carrying propaganda north.

Park Sang-hak, who defected from North Korea and has been sending anti-regime leaflets north for years, said he floated 20 balloons laden with propaganda as well as flash drives with K-pop and television dramas across the border on Thursday.