North and South Korea exchanged machinegun-fire on Friday across the disputed sea border after North Korean gunners fired the balloons carrying anti-North Korean government leaflets that have been launched by South Korean activists. Following the confrontation, no one was reported hurt.
As stated by Reuters, North Korea fired machinegun rounds into South Korea on Friday, prompting the South to strike back with its own artillery fire following the 3-day exchange gunfire at a disputed sea border. South Korea's defense ministry official said that shots were fired at the border town of Yeoncheon. The official also added that there are no reported casualties.
The South Korean activists had been frequently helium-filled launching balloons carrying thousands of leaflets with pro-democracy, anti-North Korea messages, as well as DVDs and other items. Many North Korean refugees said access to outside media encouraged their escape from the country. However, critics said the balloons just add to inter-Korean frictions.
On Thursday, North Korea issued a statement saying that if South Korean allowed leaflets drops, it would cloud prospects for a dialogue on inter-Korean issues planned for this month and could possibly hurt inter-Korean ties, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The North has also repeatedly called for South Korea to thwart the launches and threatened to fire at the balloons, but it had never previously done so.
CNN reported that according to the defense official, the gunfire exchange occurred when North Korean gunners fired anti-aircraft rounds at the balloons for 20 minutes, and some of the shots landed on South Korean soil. After a warning, South Korea responded with a 40 artillery rounds from a heavy machine gun.
According to the South Korean Defense Ministry, the confrontation is the latest in a string of comparable incidents between the two rival countries. The most recent of which came Tuesday when patrol boats from North and South Korea exchanged fire in the Yellow Sea.
Meanwhile, North Korea had no immediate statement about the exchange. It was the first time that the North has fired at South Korea since the artillery shooting of a border island in 2010 that caused four deaths.
However, the recent incident intensified concern about the whereabouts and the unending intrigue over the status of the North's 31-year-old dictator Kim Jong Un, who has been out of the public's attention since last month amidst uncertain diplomatic propositions.
After the recent confrontation between North and South Korea that prompted a gunfire exchange at the disputed sea border, Reuters reported that none of the shots by either side were aimed at the other's vessel and there were no casualties on both groups.
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