South Korea protests DMZ gunfire it says North started

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA—South Korea said Monday it protested to North Korea over the exchange of gunfire inside their heavily fortified border that it says the North started.

South Korea said several bullets fired from North Korea hit one of its front-line guard posts on Sunday before South Korean troops fired 20 rounds of warning shots in response. It was the first shooting inside the Demilitarized Zone in about two and a half years, but there were no known casualties on either side, according to South Korean defence officials.

Defence Ministry spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo told reporters Monday that South Korea sent a message of strong protest and urged North Korea to explain the shooting and avoid similar incidents. Choi said North Korea hasn’t responded to the message.

The 248-kilometre-long Demilitarized Zone bisects the Korean Peninsula and is guarded by mines, barbed wire fences and combat troops on both sides. It was formed as a buffer after the end of the Korean War and officially is jointly overseen by North Korea and the American-led UN Command.

The UN Command said in a statement Monday that it was investigating if there was a violation of an armistice that ended the Korean War. South Korean military spokesperson Kim Joon Rak declined to comment on the UN Command investigation.

The gunfire exchange happened two days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a public appearance that ended a three-week absence that prompted intense rumours about his health. It also came amid deadlocked U.S. diplomatic efforts to rid North Korea of its nuclear weapons.