North Korean soldiers briefly cross border amid rising tensions

On Sunday, an incident occurred at the Korean border. About 20 North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the border between the countries. They retreated after warning shots were fired by South Korean soldiers, reported the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday.

The incident happened in the highly fortified demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas. A group of about 20 soldiers from the north allegedly crossed the demarcation line around 3:30 AM Greenwich Time on Sunday. In response, South Korean soldiers issued a special communication and fired warning shots, after which the group of soldiers "immediately retreated to the north".

According to the JCS spokesperson, Col. Lee Sung-jun, the North Korean soldiers were performing an unspecified task within the demilitarised zone, and their crossing of the demarcation line was not intentional. The fact that they immediately retreated supports this.

The incident occurred a few hours before South Korea was set to resume broadcasting propaganda messages against the regime in Pyongyang. These messages are broadcasted by powerful loudspeakers placed on the border between both countries.

South Koreans are also sending leaflets to the north, for which North Korea retaliates by sending balloons with waste to the neighbour's territory.

North Korea has already sent 15 tonnes of trash, including excrement, which reached its southern neighbour using about 4,000 balloons. The regime in Pyongyang has declared it will stop sending these troublesome "packages" if South Korea ceases distributing leaflets targeting North Korea's authorities.

In retaliation, the southern side announced the activation of loudspeakers at the border, which had not been used since 2018. The decision came after a summit involving Kim Jong Un and the then-president of South Korea.

Although from Saturday to Sunday morning, about 330 balloons carrying bags of waste crossed the border, and on the night from Sunday to Monday, the South Korean military reported an additional 310 such objects, they did not decide to activate the loudspeaker broadcasts.

If North Korea commits despicable acts, we are prepared to immediately conduct broadcasts, stated the JCS communication, quoted on Monday by Yonhap.