- Title: NORTH KOREA: North and South Korea exchange gunfire at border in latest clash
- Date: 20th October 2014
- Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (FILE - 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SOUTH KOREAN DEFENCE MINISTRY BUILDING SOUTH KOREAN NATIONAL FLAG AND DEFENCE MINISTRY FLAGS MORE EXTERIOR OF SOUTH KOREAN DEFENCE MINISTRY BUILDING
- Embargoed: 4th November 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Korea, Democratic People's Republic of
- Country: Korea, Democratic People's Republic of
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVAAKNEEZXE088GJ09C8XZ4TBJEX
- Story Text: North and South Korea exchanged gunfire on Sunday (October 19) when the North's soldiers approached the military border and did not retreat after the South fired warning shots, the South Korean Defence Ministry said.
The North's soldiers fired back in an exchange of gunfire that lasted about 10 minutes but the situation did not escalate, a ministry official said adding there were no casualties or property damage.
"North Korean soldiers approached the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). Despite our warning shots, they did not get out of the MDL area and they even fired back," said South Korean defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok at a news briefing on Monday (October 20).
South Korea warned against the North's provocative act.
"We sternly warn North Korea to immediately stop reckless military provocation creating military tensions and violating the armistice agreement," Kim added.
The incident was the latest in a series of confrontations in recent weeks between the rival Koreas, that remain technically at war, and follows an urgent meeting between senior military officials on Wednesday (October 15) to discuss how to ease tensions.
The South Korean Unification Ministry said on Monday even though there was gunfire between two Koreas, Seoul still expects high-level talks with Pyongyang to take place.
"As you know, holding the high-level meeting was agreed on October 4th at the high-level talks in Incheon. Our government expects the second round of high-level talks between South and North Korea to take place on October 30 as we proposed," said Lim Byeong-cheol.
Earlier this month, the two sides exchanged fire after a North Korean patrol boat crossed a sea border that the North has long disputed in an area where naval clashes have in the past killed scores of sailors on both sides. They also traded machine gun fire after southern activists released anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border by balloon on Oct. 10.
The two Koreas are expected to hold a high-level meeting soon and the recent actions by the heavily militarised North are seen by experts as posturing to seek advantage in often intricate dealings with the wealthy South. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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