North, South Korean troops exchange border fire

North and South Korean troops briefly exchanged fire Sunday in the latest in a series of minor border skirmishes that have raised military tensions on the divided peninsula. The South’s defence ministry said the exchange inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) that separates the two rivals lasted only 10 minutes. There were no reported casualties.

Verbal warnings were issued by loudspeaker and then warning shots were fired. The North Koreans then opened fire on our troops, who returned fire.

South Korean official

Despite its name, the DMZ is probably the world’s most heavily militarised border, bristling with watchtowers and landmines. There have been a series of border exchanges in recent weeks that have raised temperatures along the perennially volatile border. On October 10 the two sides traded heavy machine-gun fire and, a few days before that, North and South Korean naval patrol boats had briefly exchanged warning fire near their disputed Yellow Sea border. There were no casualties reported in either incident.

The nerves of the soldiers on both sides get frayed at moments like this, and that increases the likelihood of an accidental clash that could spiral out of control.

Yang Moo-Jin, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies

Asia-Pacific Korea DMZ