Soldiers Exchange Fire at Border
2003-07-17
South and North Korean soldiers briefly exchanged fire along the demilitarized zone early Thursday morning, but no casualties were reported from the South Korean side, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
According to the JCS, North Korean soldiers side fired four machine gun rounds at 6:10 a.m. near Yeoncheon, 60 kilometers north of Seoul, along the border that separates the two Koreas.
South Korean soldiers fired back 17 rifle rounds after issuing a broadcast over loudspeakers warning that the North¡¯s actions were a clear violation of the armistice agreement.
It is not known whether there were casualties on the North Korean side.
No special movements were observed from the North Korean military after the shootout, according to military officials on Thursday.
The caliber of the machine gun fired by the North, a 14.5 millimeter type, was also in violation of the armistice, the officials added.
The JCS said it is trying to determine whether the shootout was accidental or intentional.
The incident marked the first land border skirmish since Nov. 27, 2001, when soldiers from both sides briefly exchanged fire at another point along the border. There were no casualties from that incident.
This most recent skirmish comes at a time of heightening tension over Pyongyang¡¯s controversial nuclear weapons program.
A North Korean diplomat in New York earlier this week said his country learned the lesson from Iraq that conventional weaponry alone will not be sufficient to deter outside aggression.
Pyongyang claims it completed reprocessing 8,000 nuclear reactor fuel rods that would give it enough plutonium to make two to five warheads according to Seoul estimates.
Source : www.korea.net
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