Multiple gunshots have been fired from North Korea towards a South Korean guard post in the demilitarized zone that separates the two countries, military chiefs in the South reported.

South Korea responded by firing two shots towards North Korea, the South’s joint chiefs of staff said on Sunday. No injuries were reported.

Following the incident, the military issued broadcast warnings, it added.

“We are taking actions via inter-Korean communication lines to grasp the detailed situation and to prevent any further incidents. And we also maintain a necessary readiness posture,” the JCS said in a release.

The incident follows the first public appearance in weeks by North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un following speculation about his health and the state of his regime.

The JCS added it was communicating with the North via their military hotline to determine the cause of the incident.

The two Koreas remain technically at war after the Korean war ended with an armistice in 1953, and despite its name, the demilitarized zone is one of the most fortified places on earth, replete with minefields and barbed-wire fences.

Easing military tensions on their border was one of the agreements reached between Kim and the South’s President Moon Jae-in at a summit in Pyongyang in September 2018.

But most of the deals have not been acted on by the North, with Pyongyang largely cutting off contact with Seoul.

Source: The Guardian
-Agencies