Salon.com > Kwang-tae Kim

North, South Korea exchange fire; 2 marines killed

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:17:47 +0000

North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire Tuesday after the North shelled an island near their disputed sea border, killing at least two South Korean marines, setting dozens of buildings ablaze and sending civilians fleeing for shelter.

The skirmish began when Pyongyang warned the South to halt military drills in the area, according to South Korean officials. When Seoul refused, the North bombarded the small South Korean-held island of Yeonpyeong, which houses military installations and a small civilian population.

South Korea returned fire and dispatched fighter jets in response, and said there could be considerable North Korean casualties as troops unleashed intense retaliatory fire. The supreme military command in Pyongyang threatened more strikes if the South crossed their maritime border by "even 0.001 millimeter," according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

Government officials in Seoul called the bombardments "inhumane atrocities" that violated the 1953 armistice halting the Korean War. The two sides technically remain at war because a peace treaty was never signed.

North Korea shoots over DMZ into South Korea

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 18:25:00 +0000

North Korea fired over its heavily fortified southern border Friday, and South Korea retaliated in a rare instance of their cold war turning hot less than two weeks before President Barack Obama and other world leaders are due in Seoul for a global economic summit.

It was unclear late Friday whether North Korea's firing of 14.5-mm rounds at a South Korean guard post in the Demilitarized Zone was an accident or an intentional provocation, an official with the Joint Chief of Staff in Seoul said.

However, the shooting -- the first at the border since 2007 -- came just hours after North Korea threatened to retaliate for South Korea's refusal last week to hold military talks with its wartime rival.

South Korean soldiers immediately returned fire, but sustained no injuries, according to the Joint Chiefs official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media. There was no word from the North on either the incident or injuries.

The exchange lasted just a few minutes but highlighted the security challenges South Korea faces as it prepares to host next month's Group of 20 summit in Seoul, just 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the border.

U.N. confronts North Korea over ship sinking

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:55:00 +0000

The U.S.-led military command monitoring the cease-fire on the Korean peninsula confronted North Korea on Friday about the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship, calling it a violation of the 1953 armistice.

Colonels from the U.N. Command, who met at the border with counterparts from Pyongyang's Korean People's Army, reminded North Korea of the U.N. Security Council order to honor the truce. Officers also proposed a joint task force to discuss the "armistice violations," the military commission said in a statement.

The 100-minute talks, which took place at the "truce village" of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas, were the second round of talks since the Cheonan went down off the Koreas' west coast on March 26, killing 46 South Korean sailors.

The two sides tentatively agreed to meet again next Thursday, the U.N. Command said.

North Korea vehemently denies involvement in the sinking of the 1,200-ton Cheonan, and has demanded to be allowed to send its own investigators to South Korea to examine the results.

The North proposed that its delegation composed of up to 30 investigators stay in the South for three to five days or even longer to conduct field investigations and that the U.S. guarantee all logistical support, the North's official Korean Central News Agency later reported.

NKorea ‘regrets’ causing deadly flood in SKorea

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:01:00 +0000

North Korea offered a rare apology Wednesday for unleashing dam water causing floods downstream blamed for six South Korean deaths and promised to alert Seoul to such measures in the future, an official said.

The release of dam water into the Imjin River last month without advance notice triggered floods that swept away six South Koreans who were camping and fishing. Seoul demanded an apology, but Pyongyang said at the time only that it "urgently" had to release the water because the dam's level was too high and that it would warn Seoul of similar releases in the future.

At 80-minute talks Wednesday suggested by South Korea and convened in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, the North expressed its regret, Unification Ministry spokesman Lee Jong-joo said. The North also said it had to discharge the waters to avoid a bigger catastrophe.

"It was regrettable that unintended human casualties occurred," the North Korean chief delegate told South Korean officials, Lee said.

The North also offered condolences to the bereaved South Korean families, Lee said.

The sides held a 15-minute session in the afternoon to wrap up Wednesday's talks.