|
North & South Korea exchange gun fire
North and South Korean troops exchanged gunfire across their heavily fortified border for the first time in about a year, a military official said on Tuesday, with the incident coming as once warming ties turn chilly.North Korean troops fired two shots at a South Korean guard post near the Demilitarized Zone late on Monday and South Korean troops returned six shots, an official said by telephone. "No one was injured in the incident," the Joint Chiefs of Staff official said, referring to South Korean troops. There was no word if any North Korean soldiers were hurt. The Joint Chiefs issued a statement saying the U.N. Command Military Armistice Commission -- monitoring a truce that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War and has left the two countries technically at war since then -- will look into the skirmish. One of the shots hit the guard post, causing South Korean troops to immediately return fire, the official said. Ties between the Cold War foes had warmed in recent years after they reached agreements on economic cooperation and military confidence-building. But even warmer ties did not prevent the occasional clash. Last October, North Korea fired a bullet toward a South Korean guard post and the South returned fire and the two navies clashed along a disputed maritime border in 2002, resulting in deaths and casualties on both sides. Posted by: Oztralian 2006-08-01 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=161527 |