Gunfire Exchanged Across Korean Boundary
South and North Korean troops exchanged gunfire across their tense border on Sunday, even as the South reaffirmed its desire to hold high-level talks with the North.
Ten North Korean soldiers approached the military demarcation line near Paju, north of Seoul, several times on Sunday, prompting South Korean border guards to broadcast warnings for them not to come any farther south, said a South Korean military spokesman, who spoke on the customary condition of anonymity.
The last time the North Korean troops approached the line, around 5:40 p.m. on Sunday, South Korean troops fired warning shots, and that prompted a brief exchange of fire between guard posts on the two sides, the spokesman said. No casualties were reported.
The military demarcation line lies within the two-mile-wide demilitarized zone that bisects the Korean Peninsula.
The confrontation came nine days after the two armies exchanged machine-gun fire across the border after the North tried to shoot down large balloons carrying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets that South Korean activists had released.
Last Wednesday, top generals from South and North Korea met on their border but failed to narrow differences over the balloons and other disputes that have kept both sides from improving relations. The North also accused President Park Geun-hye of South Korea of committing an “unpardonable politically motivated provocation” after she urged the North to abandon its nuclear weapons program and improve human rights during a summit meeting of Asian and European leaders last week.
Still, Ju Chul-ki, Ms. Park’s senior secretary for foreign affairs, told reporters on Sunday that the South hoped to hold high-level talks with the North as scheduled.
Early this month, the two Koreas agreed to resume talks late this month or in early November. But the recent shooting episodes and the North’s harsh words against the South have cast doubt on that agreement.(KH)
