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North, South Korea Soldiers Exchange Fire
EFLSouth and North Korean soldiers briefly exchanged machine gun fire along their border on Thursday, but the South Korean military said it did not suffer casualties in the shootout. Shouldnât be any if people are doing their jobs correctly. It was not immediately known whether any North Korean troops were injured or killed in the firefight in the Demilitarized Zone. Tension on the Korean Peninsula is high over North Koreaâs suspected development of nuclear weapons, and such shooting incidents in the DMZ are rare. In recent years, however, negotiations and reconciliation efforts have moved forward despite such outbreaks of violence. "Honest Ma, he wants to play with me. I donât think that foamy stuff around his mouth means anything! Nice doggy ..." North Korean soldiers fired four rounds at 6:10 a.m., and South Korean soldiers fired 17 rounds in response one minute later, said Maj. Lee of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff. He said the North Korean fire came from a machine gun, and that the South was using a machine gun called a K-3. Three of the North Korean bullets hit the wall of a South Korean guard post 300 yards away. The South Koreans issued a loudspeaker broadcast after returning fire, telling the North Koreans that they were in ``clear violationââ of the terms of the armistice that ended the Korean War. ``Immediately stop the provocation,ââ said the broadcast. "Thatâs telling them, Ray!" The shootout occurred on a national holiday in South Korea that commemorates its 1948 Constitution. Under terms of the armistice, North and South Korean soldiers can patrol in the DMZ, but they are not allowed to move around with heavy weapons such as machine guns. However, Lee said the two sides are allowed to keep machine guns inside observation posts, and that the guns used in the shootout were located in such posts. Lee, who did not give his first name, said the incident happened near the South Korean town of Yonchon, 35 miles north of the South Korean capital, Seoul. Posted by: Steve White 2003-07-17 |
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