South Korea’s military fired warning shots after approximately 20 North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the border over the weekend, Seoul officials stated, amid heightened tension over Pyongyang’s recent launch of balloons carrying trash into the South.
The incident occurred around 12:30 pm on Sunday when the North Korean troops in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas crossed the military demarcation line, according to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Tuesday.
JCS spokesman Colonel Lee Sung-jun noted that the military did not view the breach as intentional, citing dense forest cover that obscured border markings and roads.
“They headed north immediately after our military’s warning broadcasts and warning shots, and there were no unusual movements,” he said at a briefing.
An unnamed JCS official, as reported by Yonhap news agency, stated that the troops were mainly carrying pickaxes and other tools, appearing to have become disoriented.
The incident coincided with North Korea’s recent dispatch of thousands of balloons containing trash to the South, including around 600 over the weekend, which Pyongyang referred to as a “gift” for North Korean defectors and South Korean campaigners who have been flying balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets and aid parcels in the opposite direction over the border.
In response, Seoul suspended a 2018 inter-Korean military pact and resumed military activities around the border, including the reinstatement of loudspeaker broadcasts, condemning Pyongyang’s actions as “base and dangerous.”
While the South Korean military has previously fired warning shots at North Korean soldiers crossing the border, most such incidents occurred around the maritime border, which Pyongyang has disputed.
The two Koreas remain technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
