South Korean soldiers shoot at North Korean soldiers

The South Korean military reported that it recently fired several warning shots after a group of North Korean soldiers crossed the inter-Korean border amid rising tensions between the neighboring countries.

“At around 12:30 on June 9 (Sunday), some North Korean troops working inside the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) invaded the MDL (Military Demarcation Line) and moved north after the South Korean military made warning broadcasts. and warning shots,” detailed the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The JCS added that no unusual movements were detected by Pyongyang’s troops, who moved to the northern side of the line immediately after the shooting, but said it is closely monitoring the movements of the North Korean military and taking necessary measures according to operating procedures.

The atmosphere on the Korean Peninsula has worsened especially since January, when the North, which has been rejecting invitations to dialogue for almost five years, declared the South the country’s main enemy and removed the goal of reunification from the Constitution.

The South Korean military reveals this latest episode in inter-Korean friction after a significant rise in tension this past weekend with the resumption of the North’s sending of hundreds of balloons filled with waste in response to the South’s sending of anti-regime propaganda, and the reinstallation of South Korean propaganda loudspeakers on the border.

The sending of the balloons by Pyongyang led Seoul to suspend the inter-Korean military agreement adopted in 2018 to reduce tension mainly on the border – which the North had already unilaterally abandoned previously – and to announce that it will resume artillery exercises in areas border crossings that he then paused as part of the conciliatory measures.