A South Korean soldier mistakenly fired near the border with North Korea and set off the army’s alarms

A South Korean soldier mistakenly fired near the North Korean border, setting off army alarms. (AFP)

A South Korean soldier mistakenly fired a machine gun near the border with North Korea, forcing the military to inform Pyongyang that the firing was unintentional, according to a report on Sunday.

Four bullets were fired during a drill in the middle of the border in Gangwon province on Saturday night, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing the South Korean military.

All the shells landed on the south side and no damage was reported.

The military unit immediately reported to North Korea that the shooting was unintentional and stepped up its preparedness stance, the officials said.

“No particular signal has been detected from the north side, and an investigation is underway to establish the exact circumstances of the incident,” an unidentified military officer told Yonhap.

The South Korean Army denounced that a North Korean drone crossed the no-fly zone in the vicinity of the presidential office in Seoul. (EFE)

The two Koreas technically remain at war after fighting was halted by an armistice in 1953, and are separated by a four-kilometre-wide demilitarized zone (DMZ) that stretches 250 kilometers along the Korean peninsula.

Despite its name, the DMZ is one of the most heavily guarded places in the world, littered with minefields and barbed wire fences.

The last time the two sides exchanged fire on the border was in May 2020, when at least four shells from North Korea hit the guard post in the central part of the DMZ, forcing Seoul troops to fire back. .

At the beginning of this month of January, the South Korean Army denounced that a North Korean drone crossed the no-fly zone in the vicinity of the presidential office in Seoul, after some five unmanned aircraft violated South Korean airspace days before.

An official explained that investigations have shown that the drone entered a 3.7-kilometre-radius no-fly zone around Yoon Suk Yeol’s office, despite early reports from the Joint Chiefs of Staff that it had denied there had been any. an entry into airspace.

“It briefly flew towards the northern edge of the area, but did not approach key security facilities,” the official told the Yonhap news agency on condition of anonymity.

The military unit immediately reported to North Korea that the shooting was unintentional and stepped up its preparedness stance.

Seoul denounced on December 26 that several North Korean drones crossed the border, so it deployed planes and helicopters to shoot them down, in what was the first such incident since 2017.

South Korean Army sources stressed that these “unidentified objects” caused the temporary suspension of civilian flights during military operations to shoot them down.

According to information collected by Yonhap, South Korean forces sent drones to the border area, some of which entered North Korean territory to carry out surveillance operations, including photographs of “key enemy military installations.”

The infiltration on December 26 sparked criticism of Seoul’s military capabilities to repel this type of action, since none of the five aircraft could be shot down or captured.

The infiltration on December 26 sparked criticism of Seoul’s military capabilities to repel this type of action, since none of the five aircraft could be shot down or captured. (AP)

As part of its preparation for future scenarios like this, the South Korean military conducted air defense exercises, some with live fire.

The maneuvers involved fifty aircraft such as KA-1 light attack aircraft and 500MD helicopters that transported troops armed with disruptive pistols that block the signals with which the drones operate.

(With information from AFP and EFE)

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