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| North and South Korea in gunfire exchange after Kim Jong-un reappears | North and South Korea in gunfire exchange after Kim Jong-un reappears |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| North and South Korea have exchanged gunfire in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) which divides the two countries. | North and South Korea have exchanged gunfire in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) which divides the two countries. |
| Seoul's military said shots from the North hit a South Korean guard post in the central border town of Cheorwon. | Seoul's military said shots from the North hit a South Korean guard post in the central border town of Cheorwon. |
| It said it returned fire and delivered a warning announcement. There are no reports of injuries. | It said it returned fire and delivered a warning announcement. There are no reports of injuries. |
| Such incidents across the world's most heavily fortified border are rare - the last occurred in 2017. It is not clear what led the North to open fire. | Such incidents across the world's most heavily fortified border are rare - the last occurred in 2017. It is not clear what led the North to open fire. |
| Military officials in the South say there was no sign of unusual troop movements. They are trying to find out if this was an accident or deliberate. | Military officials in the South say there was no sign of unusual troop movements. They are trying to find out if this was an accident or deliberate. |
| There's a "low possibility" that the shots fired by North Korea were intentional, according to the South Korean military. But at this stage it is unclear how they've made that assessment. | |
| Even if it was an accident or a miscalculation, it shows just how important it is for troops to keep level heads in the heavily fortified DMZ to ensure the situation isn't made much worse. | Even if it was an accident or a miscalculation, it shows just how important it is for troops to keep level heads in the heavily fortified DMZ to ensure the situation isn't made much worse. |
| If it was a more tactical decision by North Korea then that's a very different matter. | If it was a more tactical decision by North Korea then that's a very different matter. |
| The timing is interesting. It's just 24 hours since the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un re-appeared after a 21-day absence. There have also been a large number of military drills in the North in recent months to improve readiness to fight an "actual war", according to state media. | The timing is interesting. It's just 24 hours since the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un re-appeared after a 21-day absence. There have also been a large number of military drills in the North in recent months to improve readiness to fight an "actual war", according to state media. |
| Pyongyang has sometimes used the tactic of escalate to de-escalate, using its military posturing as leverage in later negotiations. | Pyongyang has sometimes used the tactic of escalate to de-escalate, using its military posturing as leverage in later negotiations. |
| But any sign of direct fire will be a disappointment to many in South Korea. There has been a lot of work in the last two years to ease tensions between the two countries after President Moon Jae-in met Kim Jong-un. The two sides signed a military agreement - any deliberate shots fired would breach that pact. | But any sign of direct fire will be a disappointment to many in South Korea. There has been a lot of work in the last two years to ease tensions between the two countries after President Moon Jae-in met Kim Jong-un. The two sides signed a military agreement - any deliberate shots fired would breach that pact. |
| The last time the North opened fire on the South happened in 2017 when a North Korean soldier made a dash across the military demarcation line to defect. | The last time the North opened fire on the South happened in 2017 when a North Korean soldier made a dash across the military demarcation line to defect. |
| The demilitarised zone (DMZ) was set up after the Korean War in 1953 in order to create a buffer zone between the two countries. | The demilitarised zone (DMZ) was set up after the Korean War in 1953 in order to create a buffer zone between the two countries. |
| For the past two years, the government in Seoul has tried to turn the heavily fortified border into a peace zone. | For the past two years, the government in Seoul has tried to turn the heavily fortified border into a peace zone. |
| Easing military tensions at the border was one of the agreements reached between the leaders of the two countries at a summit in Pyongyang in September 2018. | Easing military tensions at the border was one of the agreements reached between the leaders of the two countries at a summit in Pyongyang in September 2018. |
| Kim Jong-un's reappearance in public, reported by North Korean state media on Friday, followed an almost-three-week unexplained absence that sparked intense global speculation about his health. | Kim Jong-un's reappearance in public, reported by North Korean state media on Friday, followed an almost-three-week unexplained absence that sparked intense global speculation about his health. |