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| ▲ This file photo, provided by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff on Dec. 23, 2024, shows North Korean soldiers installing barbed wire fences in a border area. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This file photo, taken June 14, 2025, shows North Korea's loudspeakers installed against South Korea in a border area, observed from a location in Gyeonggi Province. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) N Korea-warning shots
(LEAD) N. Korea berates S. Korea for firing warning shots at its troops in border area this week
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details throughout)
SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Saturday accused South Korea's military of having fired more than 10 warning shots at North Korean soldiers, who were conducting a border reinforcement project, earlier this week, underscoring a rise in inter-Korean tensions amid an ongoing military exercise between Seoul and Washington.
Ko Jong-chol, vice chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army (KPA), issued a statement calling for Seoul to stop its "premeditated and deliberate" provocations that he said are "inciting military conflict," according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"On Aug. 19, the ROK military warmongers committed such a serious provocation as firing more than 10 warning shots with a 12.7 mm large-caliber machine gun at the DPRK soldiers who were conducting a permanent barrier project near the southern border line," the statement read.
ROK is the acronym for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea, and DPRK is short for North Korea's full name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
It is not immediately confirmed whether the North's claim is true.
North Korea said its soldiers were conducting a "barrier project to permanently block the southern border" in an effort to reinforce it. The project came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared inter-Korean ties as those between "two states hostile to each other" in late 2023.
Ko said the North had informed the U.S. forces stationed in South Korea of a plan for the project on June 25 and July 18 in a bid to prevent an accidental conflict near the border.
"In particular, the recent incident, timed to coincide with the large-scale joint military drills being staged in the region of the ROK, cannot but be construed as a premeditated and deliberate provocation aimed at military conflict from A to Z," the official said.
The North's claim came as Seoul and Washington kicked off their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise Monday for an 11-day run through Thursday next week.
"If the act of restraining or obstructing the project unrelated to the military character persists, our army will regard it as a deliberate military provocation and take corresponding countermeasure," Ko warned.
Since April last year, North Korean troops have been seen installing barbed wire fences and anti-tank barriers near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) separating the two Koreas -- a move seen as aimed at fortifying the border with the South.
The South Korean military broadcast a warning message when North Korean troops conducting the barrier project moved close to the MDL. It then fired warning shots when they violated the boundary.
In a separate statement carried by the KCNA, North Korea's military condemned the ongoing combined military exercise between Seoul and Washington as "extremely provocative and aggressive" large-scale drills targeting the North.
"The DPRK army, as already declared, will respond to the military provocations of the hostile forces posing direct threat to the safety of the country with proper and indiscriminate exercise of the right to self-defense," an unnamed spokesperson at the General Staff of the KPA warned.
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