S Korea says it fired warning shots after N Korean soldiers crossed border

Incident took place on Sunday at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two countries.

South Korea’s military has said it fired warning shots after soldiers from North Korea briefly crossed the border at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the countries.

The incident took place at about 12.30pm (03:30 GMT) on Sunday when a group of North Korean soldiers crossed over the Military Demarcation Line within the DMZ, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing a statement from the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The JCS said South Korean soldiers broadcast warnings and fired into the air, and the North Korean soldiers returned to their side of the heavily-fortified border.

The incident comes amid heightened tensions between the two Koreas after Pyongyang sent more than 1,000 balloons filled with rubbish across the border, and South Korea resumed propaganda broadcasts which it had stopped in 2018.

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said the broadcasts risked provoking a “crisis of confrontation”.