South Korean soldiers fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers accidentally crossed the border, the South Korean military said.
Some North Korean troops engaged in unspecified work on the border crossed the demilitarized zone separating the two countries, The Associated Press reported.
The soldiers were carrying construction tools and some of them were armed. They immediately returned to their sides after South Korea fired warning shots and sent out warning broadcasts, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The South said the soldiers did not appear to cross the border deliberately because the area was heavily forested and signs were not visible.
Local media reported that twenty to thirty North Korean soldiers entered about 50 meters.
The AP noted that the 150-mile “Demilitarized Zone,” or DMZ, is the most heavily armed border in the world.
The warning shots follow back-and-forth provocations between the two countries.
North Korea last week continued its mission to send balloons filled with trash to the South. The balloons contain “dirt” such as cigarette butts, waste paper and plastic bags.
South Korea promised its response would be “unbearable.” South Korea began playing Korean pop music on its speakers and anti-Pyongyang propaganda in retaliation for the trash balloons, the AP reported.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong said on Sunday that there would be a “new reaction” if the South continued its loudspeaker broadcasts, the outlet reported.
The Associated Press contributed.
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