SEOUL – North Korea’s state media said on Saturday that South Korea’s military fired more than 10 warning rounds toward North Korean soldiers on Tuesday. Army Lieutenant General Ko Jong Chol said the event was a “serious provocation” that may lead to “uncontrollable” military confrontation.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea said in a statement that the warning shots were fired after North Korean troops crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), which separates the two countries. The JCS official said that the North Korean soldiers were doing “unspecified construction work” when they broke the law and then went back to their own area after the warning shots were fired. Some people think that South Korea didn’t tell the public about the incident right away because they wanted to avoid more tensions while they tried to repair their relationship with North Korea.
But North Korea’s state media called the occurrence a planned and “premeditated” act of aggression. Lieutenant General Ko said that the North Korean forces were working on a “barrier project to permanently block the southern border.” He also said that any more “restraining or obstructing” of this project will be faced with a “corresponding countermeasure.”
The fight happens at a time of rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, when South Korea and the United States are holding their annual joint military exercise, Ulchi Freedom Shield. North Korea has long called these drills practice for an invasion. The incident near the border is being used as an excuse for North Korea’s own military shows and missile tests.
The most recent fight is a blow to South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae Myung, who was elected in June and promised to restore communication and create “military trust” with the North. Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has said in public that the North has “no will to improve relations” with the South. The recent events near the border seem to back up that claim.
The two Korea are still formally at war because the 1950–53 combat concluded with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The heavily defended border is a constant source of tension, with both sides using psychological warfare including propaganda broadcasts and sending balloons full of trash across the boundary. The recent gunfire, which did not kill anyone, shows how fragile the ceasefire is on the peninsula.