Alarm immediately sounded – Seoul immediately notified Pyongyang that the shooting was “unintentional” and increased the level of vigilance
A South Korean soldier accidentally opened fire with a machine gun near the border with North Korea during high schools yesterday, triggering an automatic alert.
South Korea’s military immediately notified Pyongyang’s forces that it was “unintentionally fired,” South Korea’s national Yonhap news agency reported today.
The soldier accidentally fired four bullets on Saturday night near the border of the two states in Awando province, Yonhap reported, citing army officers.
The bullets all landed on South Korean soil and caused no injuries or damage.
The South Korean unit immediately notified North Korea that the shootings were unintentional and increased the level of vigilance, according to officers.
“We have not detected any particular indication from North Korea,” while “an investigation is underway to ascertain the exact circumstances of the incident,” a South Korean military officer told the agency on condition of anonymity.
The two countries, which technically remain at war after the war between them ended in 1953 with a simple armistice, are separated by a demilitarized zone four kilometers wide and 250 long.
Contrary to what one would think when hearing its name, the demilitarized zone is one of the most heavily guarded areas on the planet, strewn with minefields, full of barbed wire fences and fortified positions with machine guns.
The two sides last exchanged fire in May 2020, when at least four North Korean bullets hit a South Korean outpost in the central part of the demilitarized zone, prompting Seoul’s forces to retaliate.
North Korean soldiers opened fire on a suicide bomber in 2017, but the South Koreans did not return fire on that occasion.
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With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
