This is the second time in two weeks. Several dozen North Korean soldiers crossed the border with South Korea on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, before retreating under warning shots from the South Korean army, an accidental act according to Seoul.
Here is what we know from AFP about this accident which is fueling tensions in the region.
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The demarcation zone accidentally crossed
In another incident, several North Korean soldiers were injured by mine explosions while working near the border, the same source told AFP. According to this same source, the incursion of North Korean soldiers on Tuesday was accidental and linked to the explosion of mines because all of them were carrying tools.
Many losses among North Korean soldiers
According to a General Staff official, these soldiers were carrying out clearing work and laying mines along the border, but “suffered numerous casualties as a result of repeated landmine explosions during their work.” . Despite this, the northern military “appear to recklessly continue their operations”added this official.
Moscow assures Pyongyang of its “unwavering support”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday assured North Korea of “unwavering support” of his country in the face of “the cunning, dangerous and aggressive enemy”, a few hours before his arrival in Pyongyang for an exceptional visit, preceded by incidents on the inter-Korean border.
Vladimir Putin is due to make a state visit to North Korea on Tuesday and Wednesday, after which a strategic partnership agreement could be signed between these two countries whose alliance the West perceives as a threat.
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This is the second accident of its kind in a month
This is the second time in less than two weeks that North Korean soldiers have crossed the inter-Korean demarcation line, which separates the two states still technically at war. On June 9, several soldiers from the North briefly entered South Korean territory, and withdrew after sound warnings and warning shots from soldiers from the South.
An increasingly threatening North Korea
For several months, North Korea has been working to dismantle the roads and railways that connected it to the South when relations between the two countries were better. According to the South Korean general staff official, the North’s military is also strengthening fortifications on its side of the border by laying mines, building new anti-tank barriers and deforesting large areas.
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And who refuses to dialogue with his neighbor to the south
“North Korea’s activities appear to be a measure to strengthen internal control, including preventing North Korean troops and North Koreans from defecting to the South”said the head of the general staff. “By laying mines, North Korea demonstrates once again that, in accordance with the instructions of the supreme leader (Kim Jong Un, Editor’s note), there will be no reconciliation with the South”added Koh Yu-hwan, professor at Dongguk University of North Korean Studies.
A low-intensity war continues between them
The two Koreas are separated by a 4 km wide demilitarized zone (DMZ). The dividing line is in the middle. The North and South Korean sides of the DMZ are heavily fortified but the demarcation line itself, located in the middle of this mine-infested zone, is only marked with simple signs.
Relations between the north and the south are currently going through one of the most tense periods in years. The two countries remain technically at war, the conflict which opposed them from 1950 to 1953 having ended in an armistice and not a peace treaty.
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And this conflict has recently taken unexpected forms
In recent weeks, Pyongyang has sent hundreds of balloons weighted with trash such as cigarette butts, toilet paper and even animal excrement to South Korea. North Korea intended to respond to the sending towards the north by defector associations, also by balloon, of leaflets hostile to leader Kim Jong Un and his family, dollars in small denominations and USB keys containing K- pop and South Korean series. Seoul cannot legally prevent these shipments.
The North and the South have also each installed loudspeakers near the border with the aim of resuming sound propaganda broadcasts, suspended since 2018.
