North Korean soldiers exchanged heavy gunfire Wednesday with South Korean troops in the most serious clash on the Korean peninsula in almost a year.
North Korea said several of its soldiers were wounded in the exchange and accused South Korea of a "grave armed provocative act." South Korea called it an "intentional provocation" by North Korea.No South Korean casualties were reported.
It was the most serious clash between the rival Koreas since September, when a North Korean submarine went aground off South Korea's northeast coast. A massive hunt for its occupants ended with 24 North Koreans killed and one captured. Thirteen South Korean soldiers and civilians also died, some from friendly fire.
Wednesday, South Korean border guards spotted at least seven North Korean troops on the southern side of the demilitarized zone and ordered them through a loudspeaker to withdraw, South Korea's Defense Ministry said.
When the North Korean soldiers failed to respond, South Korean soldiers fired some 200 warning shots into the air, the ministry said.
The North Koreans fired their rifles at the South Korean soldiers, the ministry said, and the southern guards then directed fire at the northerners with machine guns and rifles.
Northern soldiers at a guard post across the border returned fire with 10 mortar rounds and two more rounds of unidentified artillery, the ministry said.
South Korea called for a cease-fire 45 minutes after the initial gunshot. The North Koreans stopped shooting shortly thereafter.
In a report carried by its official news agency, the North denied its soldiers crossed the border and accused the South of obstructing "the routine patrol duty" of its soldiers.
"The people's army soldiers were compelled to take self-defensive measures under the grave situation," the North's Korean Central News Agency said.
It said soldiers were seriously injured and outpost buildings destroyed, but did not specify how many soldiers were hurt. The South Koreans fired some 3,000 shells and bullets, the North Korean agency said.
The demilitarized zone is a 2.5-mile wide buffer that stretches the width of the Korean Peninsula.