Seoul: North Korean soldiers crossed the heavily fortified inter-Korean land border on 10 occasions last month as part of their continued construction activities near the border, a lawmaker said on Friday, citing military data.
Since March up until recently, there have been 16 cases of North Korean soldiers breaching the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in the Demilitarised Zone separating the two Koreas, according to information submitted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to main opposition People Power Party Rep. Kang Dae-sik.
A majority of the border crossings reported in November occurred in the eastern coastal county of Goseong, with six cases reported in the area, followed by three in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, and one in Hwancheon, Gangwon Province.
The military attributed the recent rise in border intrusions in Goseong to its geographic traits.
“While the North Korean military has been clearing land in the Goseong area since November, border intrusions have been reported because that section of the MDL is shaped pointed toward the northern side,” JCS spokesperson Lee Sung-jun said in a regular press briefing.
In accordance with established process, the South Korean military aired warning messages and, in some cases, fired warning shots, prompting the North Korean soldiers to retreat in all cases, according to the JCS.
The ministry also corrected a media report that the defence ministry has recently instructed the military to refrain from firing warning shots in the event of a North Korean military provocation, saying no changes have been made to its operational procedures, Yonhap news agency reported.
Since April last year, North Korea has deployed troops near the MDL to plant mines, erect anti-tank barriers and reinforce barbed wire fences after the country’s leader Kim Jong-un described inter-Korean ties as those between “two states hostile to each other” in late 2023.
Last month, Seoul proposed holding military talks with Pyongyang to discuss how to clarify the MDL in a bid to prevent possible clashes near the inter-Korean border.
It marked South Korea’s first official proposal for inter-Korean talks with the North since President Lee Jae Myung took office in June, with a pledge to mend frayed ties with the North and create conditions for dialogue.
The North has remained unresponsive.
(IANS)
