Seoul: North Korea on Saturday accused South Korea's military of firing more than 10 warning shots at North Korean soldiers engaged in a border reinforcement project earlier this week. This incident highlights a rise in inter-Korean tensions amid the ongoing military exercise between Seoul and Washington.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Ko Jong-chol, vice chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA), issued a statement urging Seoul to cease its "premeditated and deliberate" provocations, which he claimed are "inciting military conflict." The statement, reported by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), alleged that on August 19, South Korean military forces fired warning shots with a 12.7 mm large-caliber machine gun at North Korean soldiers near the southern border line. This claim has not been immediately verified.
North Korea stated that its soldiers were undertaking a "barrier project to permanently block the southern border" to reinforce it. The project follows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's remarks in late 2023, characterizing inter-Korean ties as those between "two states hostile to each other." Ko noted that North Korea had notified U.S. forces stationed in South Korea about the project on June 25 and July 18 to prevent accidental conflicts near the border.
The North Korean official claimed that the incident coincided with the large-scale joint military drills between Seoul and Washington, suggesting it as a deliberate provocation. The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, a joint military drill by South Korea and the United States, commenced on Monday and is scheduled to run for 11 days through next Thursday.
Ko warned that if South Korea continues to obstruct the project, the North Korean army would consider it a deliberate military provocation and respond with appropriate countermeasures. Since April of the previous year, North Korean troops have been observed installing barbed wire fences and anti-tank barriers near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) separating the two Koreas, likely to fortify the border with the South.
The South Korean military reportedly broadcast a warning message when North Korean troops approached the MDL during the barrier project, subsequently firing warning shots when the boundary was violated. In a separate statement reported by the KCNA, North Korea's military condemned the joint military exercise between Seoul and Washington as "extremely provocative and aggressive," asserting that it targets the North. An unnamed spokesperson from the General Staff of the KPA warned that the DPRK army would respond to military provocations with appropriate self-defense measures.