According to Yonhap news agency, on Tuesday, amid high tensions following North Korea’s balloon attacks, South Korea’s military fired warning shots as North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the border.
On the heavily guarded Korean border, something significant is taking place after days of high tensions that saw North Korea launch hundreds of garbage and excrement-filled balloons into the south.
According to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, there are multiple reports of dozens of North Korean soldiers briefly crossing the border and then retiring as South Korean border forces fired warning shots.
Around 11:00 a.m. local time, according to Reuters, citing Yonhap: “South Korea’s military fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed the Military Demarcation Line near the border, the Yonhap news agency reported on Tuesday citing the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.”
Furthermore, according to a Yonhap Wire, “Korea military suffers ‘multiple casualties’ in landmine explosion near border.”
A week has passed since there was a live fire incident near the border, however, specifics are still being worked out. Tuesday of last week, after troops on the opposite side ‘accidentally’ crossed the boundary in the south, South Korean border forces opened fire in warning.
The following occurred precisely one week ago:
“There were no unusual movements other than the North Korean army immediately moving north after our warning shots,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman, Col. Lee Sung-jun, told a briefing.
He generally downplayed the incident which happened Sunday, and suggested there was no indication the enemy troops were seeking to invade territory.
“The South Korean military is closely monitoring the movements of the North Korean military and taking necessary measures.”
A significant live fire exchange between the two ancient rivals could break out if losses among DPRK forces are verified. Kim Jong-un has also been threatening to resume nuclear testing.
US government-backed Stripes revealed yesterday:
North Korean troops have been observed creating anti-tank barriers, reinforcing roads and carrying out other military projects within the Demilitarized Zone, according to the South’s military on Monday. South Korean intelligence agencies spotted the improvements near the border in recent days, army Col. Lee Seong-jun, a spokesman for the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a news conference Monday.
Lee declined to elaborate on the North’s activities at the border and said the South’s military was still analyzing its operations. North Korean troops were also observed building walls and roads between the Military Demarcation Line — the actual border between the two Koreas — and the Demilitarized Zone, an unidentified military source said in a Yonhap News report Saturday. The 2½-mile-wide DMZ spans 150 miles across the Korean Peninsula from coast to coast.
Since the US Navy stationed a nuclear submarine in South Korea for the first time in many years last summer, Pyongyang has been threatening the country with nuclear weapons.
Additionally, Pyongyang is said to have sent more troops to the border in response to the growing tit-for-tat.
Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that Kim Jong Un sent hundreds of excrement-filled balloons into South Korea, causing a hazardous mess. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff issued warnings as HAZMAT crews were deployed to clean up the waste.
