South Korea Fires Rounds Of Ammunition In Response To North Korean Missile

Admin 21-Aug-2015 10:50:55 Inothernews

South Korea Fires Rounds Of Ammunition In Response To North Korean Missile


South Korea fired tens of artillery rounds towards North Korea on August 20 after the North fired a projectile towards a South Korean loudspeaker that had been blaring anti-Pyongyang broadcasts, the defence ministry in Seoul said. North Korea did not immediately respond to the South's shots, it said, as tensions rose on the peninsula.



South Korea said its detection equipment had spotted the trajectory of a suspected North Korean projectile launched at around 3:52 pm (0652 GMT), which did not appear to have damaged the loudspeaker or caused any injuries.

"Our military has stepped up monitoring and is closely watching North Korean military movements," South Korea's defence ministry said in a statement.

South Korea's military raised its alert status to the highest level.

Korean De-Militarised Zone | Source: Wikipedia

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There was no mention of the firing in North Korean state media, which does not typically make immediate comment on events.

The suspected North Korean projectile landed in an area about 60 km (35 miles) north of Seoul in the western part of the border zone, the defence ministry said. South Korean residents in the area were ordered to evacuate, according to the South's Yonhap news agency.

Yonhap reported that the projectile appeared to have landed in a mountainous area near a South Korean military base in the town of Yeoncheon.

South Korea's presidential office said it had convened a meeting of the national security council.

The exchange of fire was the first between the two Koreas since last October, when North Korean soldiers approached the military border and did not retreat after the South fired warning shots, the South Korean Defence Ministry said at the time. The North's soldiers fired back in an exchange of gunfire that lasted about 10 minutes, with no casualties.

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