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A day after the North Korean ruler, Kim Jong Un, has again appeared out of the public after several weeks of absence, a military incident alarms the Korean peninsula.
(dpa)
At the heavily guarded border between South Korea and North Korea, there was an exchange of fire between soldiers from both countries, according to information from South Korea. North Korean soldiers fired on a South Korean border checkpoint within the four-kilometer-wide military buffer zone, the General Staff in South Korea said on Sunday.
South Korean soldiers returned fire after sending warnings. There was no information on the victims or other damage on the South Korean side. Initially it was unclear if there were any injuries on North Korean soil.
The aim was to try to get a more accurate picture of the situation and avoid further incidents through the Korean communication channels. Meanwhile, the South Korean army is on standby.
Several people sit in a park in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, as they watch images of ruler Kim Jong Un on a screen on May 2.
The incident in the central section of the Cheorwon Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) occurred a day after North Korean state media reported the first public appearance of ruler Kim Jong Un for a long time. Kim’s absence for nearly three weeks had sparked speculation about his health and questions about the situation in the isolated country.
Since the Korean War (1950-53), incidents have often occurred at the maritime and national borders between the two countries in the past. But two and two years ago, South and North Korea had agreed to new measures to ease the military. As part of the agreement, they had cleared several border control points in the border area.
Neighboring countries are still at war under international law. The DMZ has separated the two countries four kilometers wide and about 250 kilometers long since their brotherly war.
