North and South Korea exchange artillery fire

Kim Moo-sung, chairman of the ruling Saenuri Party, called on the military to raise its combat readiness as North Korea fired artillery shells targeted at loudspeakers at a South Korean front-line military unit on the western area.

No injuries or damage have been reported on either side as the shells landed in remote areas, but it has prompted evacuations at South Korea’s border towns, including Yeoncheon where the North Korean shell fell.

South and North Korea traded artillery fire across their heavily militarised border on Thursday, in a rare exchange that left no casualties but pushed already elevated cross-border tensions to dangerously high levels.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye (C) presides over an emergency National Security Council session on North Korea’s rocket firing at the presidential Blue House in Seoul on August 20, 2015.

The North was backing up an earlier threat to attack South Korean border loudspeakers that, after a lull of 11 years of time of time, have started broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda.

“Our military has stepped up monitoring and is closely watching North Korean military movements”, the ministry said in a statement.

In November 2010, North Korea shelled an island near the countries disputed maritime border, killing two South Korean marines.

In a separate missive, however, Pyongyang said it was open to negotiations, even though it considers the propaganda a “declaration of war”, South Korea’s Unification Ministry added. In contrast, there have been frequent exchanges of artillery and rocket fire across the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border – most notably North Korea’s shelling of Yeonpyeong in November 2010.

Late Thursday night North Korea exchanged fire with South Korea over a loudspeaker that has been blaring anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts.

Tensions have spike on the Korean peninsula in recent weeks after South Korea soldiers were seriously wounded by landmines in the demilitarized zone. South Korea accused its northern rival of planting them across the DMZ, prompting them to resume using the propaganda speakers.

Both Seoul and Washington say the drills are “defensive”. North Korea now threatens additional attacks if the broadcasts don’t stop within 48 hours.

Beginning on Monday and titled the “Ulchi Freedom Guardian”, the war games simulate the invasion of the South by the North, and involve around 80,000 South Korean and US troops, as well as countries including the UK, France, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, and New Zealand.

One soldier injured in the blasts underwent a double leg amputation, while another had one leg removed.