North and South Korea exchange fire hours after Kim Jong-un appears

Just 24 hours after North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un returned from his 21-day absence, the country has exchanged gunfire with South Korea in the demilitarized zone which demarcates the two countries.

The shots from North Korea was said to have hit a guard post in the central border town of Cheorwon after which came a retaliatory warning shot from Seoul’s military.

While the North Korean sides are yet to comment on the motives behind their action, a South Korean government official has told a state media that the shots were not likely to have been intentional as its military troops had detected no sign of tactical or unusual troop movements from the North Korean side.

“The timing is interesting. It’s just 24 hours since the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un re-appeared after a 21-day absence. There have also been a large number of military drills in the North in recent months to improve readiness to fight an “actual war”, a state media reported

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also told US media that the shots from North Korea were most probably “accidental”.

READ ALSO: Pope calls on scientists to ensure COVID-19 vaccine reaches every country of the world

However, any sign of direct fire would breach the agreement reached between the leaders of the two countries, President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un at the Pyongyang summit in September 2018 where they had promised to de-escalate tensions around buffer zones.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now