7/24/2019 North and South Korea Article

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North and South Korea 'exchange fireover border'

The demilitarised zone is one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world

North and South Korea briefly exchanged gunfire over their heavily fortified landborder, South Korea says.

North Korean troops approached the demarcation line separating the two sides, prompting SouthKorean soldiers to fire warning shots, officials said.

The North Koreans returned fire, and the sides exchanged shots for about 1 minutes, they added.There were no reports of in!uries.

There were similar border s"irmishes earlier this month.

#t is not clear if the increasingly fre$uent clashes are the actions of local soldiers in a tense situation,or part of a wider provocation by either side, the %%&'s Stephen (vans in Seoul says. )ast wee",military officers from the two sides met at a border village to try to ease tensions, but no agreementwas reached.

*n 1 *ctober, North Korean troops fired at balloons being released across the border from SouthKorea, prompting the South to return fire.

+ctivists in South Korea fre$uently float balloons carrying leaflets condemning North Korean leaderKim ong-un over the border - a move that angers the North.

(arlier in *ctober, North and South Korean ships exchanged warning shots after a North Koreanpatrol boat crossed a disputed maritime border, South Korea said.The two Koreas are separated bythe heavily fortified emilitarised /one.They have technically been at war since the 10-2 Korean3ar ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.