SEOUL, June 11, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Seoul's military said Tuesday it had fired
warning shots after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the border this
week, with tensions high over Pyongyang's trash-carrying balloons and Seoul's
loudspeaker propaganda campaigns.

"Some North Korean soldiers working within the DMZ on the central front
briefly crossed the Military Demarcation Line," the JCS said in a statement,
referring to the line of control in the heavily fortified border between the
two Koreas.

"After our military issued warning broadcasts and warning shots, they
retreated northward," it said, adding the incident happened June 9.

"Apart from the immediate retreat of the North Korean soldiers following our
warning shots, there were no unusual movements observed", the JCS said,
adding the military was closely monitoring troops near the border.

Tensions between the two Koreas -- which remain technically at war since the
1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty -- are at
one of their lowest points in years.

In recent weeks, North Korea has sent hundreds of balloons laden with trash
like cigarette butts and toilet paper southward, in what it calls retaliation
for balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda sent north by activists.

The South Korean government this month fully suspended a 2018 tension-
reducing military deal and restarted loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along
the border in response to the trash balloons, infuriating the North, which
warned Seoul was creating "a new crisis".

South Korea's military said Monday it had detected signs the North was
installing its own loudspeakers.

North Korea had used loudspeakers along the border since the 1960s, typically
broadcasting praise of the Kim family, but suspended their use in 2018 as
ties warmed.

- High risk -

Experts have warned that the decision to jettison the 2018 deal and restart
loudspeaker broadcasts could have serious implications.

Previous propaganda tit-for-tat actions have had real-world consequences for
inter-Korean relations.

In 2020, Pyongyang, blaming anti-North leaflets, unilaterally cut off all
official military and political communication links with the South and blew
up an inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the border.

The North has also previously threatened artillery strikes against the
loudspeaker units.

In 2018, during a period of improved inter-Korean relations, the leaders of
the two Koreas agreed to "completely cease all hostile acts", including
stopping the leaflets.

The South Korean parliament passed a law in 2020 criminalising sending
leaflets to the North, but activists did not stop, and the law was struck
down by the Constitutional Court last year as an undue limitation on free
speech.

The 2018 pact was a hallmark achievement of former president Moon Jae-in, who
met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un repeatedly in a bid to improve ties.

Abandoning the deal also enables South Korea to resume live-fire drills along
the border.