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North Korea slams South Korea over 'deliberate provocation' by shooting unwarranted warning shots

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 23 August 2025 11:13 AM

Pyongyang has slammed Seoul over "deliberate provocation" after it fired warning shots at North Korean soldiers.

Seoul confirmed on Saturday that it had fired several warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed into its territory earlier this week.

Crossing the border by the North Korean soldiers prompted "our military to fire warning shots," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, adding, "The North Korean soldiers then moved north" of the de facto border back into their own side.

North Korea's state media had announced earlier on Saturday that the incident occurred as North Korean soldiers worked to permanently seal the frontier dividing the peninsula, citing a statement by Army Lt. Gen. Ko Jong Chol.

Ko described the incident as a "premeditated and deliberate provocation."

Seoul's military used a machine gun to fire more than 10 warning shots towards the North Korean soldiers, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

"This is a very serious prelude that would inevitably drive the situation in the southern border area, where a huge number of forces are stationing in confrontation with each other to the uncontrollable phase," KCNA quoted Ko as saying.

Last October, North Korea revised its constitution to declare the South a "hostile state" after Kim called for the rejection of the long-held official goal of reunification.

North Korea's military announced at the time that it was moving to totally shut off its southern border, saying it had sent a message to US forces to "prevent any misjudgment and accidental conflict."

Shortly after the announcement, it blew up sections of the unused, but deeply symbolic, roads and railroad tracks that connected the two Koreas.

Ko warned Seoul that North Korea's armed forces would retaliate against any interference with its efforts to permanently seal the border.

Meanwhile, South Korea's new leader Lee Jae Myung has sought to improve Seoul-Pyongyang ties, vowing to build bilateral diplomatic relations.

Under Lee's more hawkish predecessor, relations between the two Koreas had sunk to one of their lowest points in years.

After Lee's election in June, he pledged to pursue dialogue with the nuclear-armed North without preconditions.

On Friday, Lee vowed to "respect" North Korea's political system and build "military trust."

Pyongyang has rejected the offer, saying it has no interest in improving relations with Seoul.

Last month, Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader's sister, rejected the prospect of dialogue with South Korea, criticizing Seoul's "blind trust" in its alliance with the United States.

Pyongyang says South Korea's ongoing military ties with Washington have made any efforts at rapprochement pointless.