“Apart from the immediate withdrawal of the North Korean soldiers following our warning shots, no unusual movements were observed,” the chief of staff added, saying that there is close monitoring of the forces near the border. The South Korean army estimated that the North Korean soldiers apparently did not cross the border on purpose, because that the site is a wooded area and the military demarcation line signs were not clearly visible there.
Tensions between the two Koreas, which are technically at war, are at one of their highest points in years. In recent weeks, North Korea has sent hundreds of balloons filled with cigarette butts, garbage and toilet paper south of the border, in what it has called retaliation for balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda sent by activists in the South. The South Korean government this month completely suspended a 2018 military arrangement and restarted propaganda broadcasts on loudspeakers along the border in response to the balloons, angering the North, which warned that Seoul was creating a “new crisis.”
The South Korean military said last night that it had detected signs that the North was installing its loudspeakers in a garden as well. North Korea has used loudspeakers along the border since the 1960s, usually broadcasting praises of the Kim family, but suspended their use in 2018 as ties improved. Experts have warned that the decision to cancel the 2018 deal and restart the loudspeaker broadcasts could have serious consequences.