Seoul, South Korea – South Korean troops fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the border this week, according to a statement by Seoul’s military on Tuesday. The incident comes amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang’s recent balloon campaigns and the South’s retaliatory loudspeaker broadcasts.
The incursion occurred on Sunday in a densely vegetated area of the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and was likely accidental, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reported. “Some North Korean soldiers working within the DMZ on the central front briefly crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL),” the JCS stated, referring to the line of control that separates the two Koreas.
The South Korean military responded with warning broadcasts and warning shots, prompting the North Korean soldiers to retreat back across the border. “After our military issued warning broadcasts and warning shots, they retreated northward,” the JCS said, noting that no unusual movements have been observed since the incident.
Approximately 20 North Korean soldiers crossed the border, according to the JCS. The spokesperson for the JCS, Lee Sung-joon, explained to reporters that the incursion was likely unintentional. “The situation at that time was that the DMZ was now overgrown with trees and the MDL mark was not clearly visible,” Lee said.
“There was no road, and the [North Korean soldiers] were moving through the bushes, and we were observing [them] even before they got close to the MDL. We believe that they did not intend to invade, considering that they immediately moved northward after the warning broadcasts and warning shots,” Lee added.
Relations between North and South Korea are currently at one of their lowest points in years. The two countries are technically still at war, as the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. The recent escalation of hostilities, including the North’s use of trash-carrying balloons and the South’s loudspeaker campaigns, has further strained the already tenuous relationship between the two nations.