South Korea fires rounds at North in response to shell

More than 28,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea to protect against a possible invasion from North Korea. No deaths or injuries have been reported.

In response, the South fired “dozens of rounds of 155mm shells” towards the location the North had launched its rocket from, a Defense Ministry spokesman in Seoul told AFP. Analysts say such sensitivity is derived from fear that such propaganda could “weaken Kim’s grip on absolute power”.

A South Korean military official said the broadcasts, which began on August 10, would continue. South Korea accused its northern rival of planting them across the DMZ, prompting them to resume using the propaganda speakers. South Korea blamed the incident on the North.

Thursday’s exchange of fire came amid ongoing annual joint US and South Korean military exercises, which began on Monday and which North Korea condemns as preparation for war.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye urged Pyongyang to “wake up” from the delusion that it could maintain its government with provocation and threats.

And last fall, machine gun fire was exchanged between the two sides when North Korea attacked balloons launched by activists in South Korea.

South Korean soldiers stand guard near Yeoncheon, a town where its residents were evacuated.

No one was hurt, but it was the first time tensions had escalated into an armed clash between the neighbors in five years, the New York Times reports.

While the Koreas regularly exchange hostile rhetoric, it is also not unusual for fighting to occasionally erupt.

According to the testimony of Seoul officials, North Korea allegedly made good on that promise, since the projectile in question targeted one of South Korea’s loudspeakers at the border.

The border standoff between the two neighbours intensified today when South reacted to a rocket fired from North, responding with several rounds of artillery shell.

North Korea has said it will take military action if South Korea does not stop broadcasting propaganda messages at the border.

The message from the Korean People’s Army general staff was delivered through an inter-Korean military hotline, the ministry said in a statement.

This back-and-forth propaganda campaign was common during the Cold War, and employed by both sides following the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War and established the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas.

Kim reported from Seoul.