Posted on 10/29/2010 6:52:42 AM PDT by WebFocus
SEOUL — North and South Korean troops exchanged fire Friday across their tense border, Seoul's military said, an incident which heightened tensions before next month's G20 summit of world leaders in Seoul.
The North fired two bullets at a frontline guard post at 5:26 pm (0826 GMT) and South Korean soldiers immediately fired three shots in return from a machine gun, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
"There were no more shots afterwards. We are now closely watching their movements," a spokesman told AFP, adding it has strengthened defence readiness.
He said no South Koreans were hurt in the incident near the Demilitarised Zone dividing the peninsula.
Exchanges of fire break out occasionally near the heavily fortified and closely guarded frontier.
But Friday's shooting, in the Hwacheon area some 90 kilometres (56 miles) northeast of Seoul, came at a sensitive time as the South prepares to host the Group of 20 summit on November 11-12.
South Korea's military was put on top security alert this week to guard the meeting against any disruptions by North Korea or international terrorists.
Leaders attending include US President Barack Obama and the summit is being considered the nation's biggest appearance on the world stage since the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
The firing came hours after the North vowed to retaliate against the South for rejecting its proposal for fresh military talks.
Cross-border tensions have been high since Seoul accused Pyongyang of torpedoing one of its warships in March with the loss of 46 lives.
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They must be hungry.
Two bullets? It only took one in 1914. Must be inflation.
As long as the USA has a Commie President, and both main US parties tied to Noko ally Communist China because of bad free trade deals....Kim and his “Best Korea” knows they can push the envelope whenever they want with South Korea
‘We have rice. You defect now.’
I spent some time in Korea with Eighth Army. This kind of thing happened every day then. Probably no different now.
Geez, didn’t North Koreah have fire already? ;^)
Ooops, what’s that “h” doing there...
This is nothing new. When I was in the Army(59-62)we were told about Korea and how it was a good place to get shot while standing guard duty. The north and south have frequently fired upon each other.
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