Tuesday, August 01, 2006














Two Koreas Exchange Gunfire Along Fortified Border
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Courtesy of: Reuters
Tue Aug 1, 2006

Seoul (Reuters)--North and South Korean troops along their heavily fortified border exchanged gunfire for the first time in about a year, a military official said on Tuesday, with the incident coming as ties between the two have soured.

North Korean troops fired two shots at a South Korean guard post near the Demilitarized Zone on Monday night and South Korean troops returned six shots, an official said by telephone.

"No one was injured in the incident" the Joint Chiefs of Staff official said.

...The last time there was an exchange of gun fire along the DMZ was in October 2005, the official said, when North Korea fired a bullet towards a South Korean guard post and the South returned fire.

The navies of the two had a major clash along a disputed maritime border in 2002, resulting in deaths and casualties on both sides.

...North Korea has stationed most of its 1.2 million-man army near the DMZ, South Korea has more than 650,000 troops, who are supported by about 30,000 U.S. troops.


Source:
http://go.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=1374273§ion=news&src=rss/uk/worldNews

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