Sunday Times 2
N. Korea issues fresh warning of retaliatory strikes
View(s):SEOUL, Nov 15 (AFP) -North Korea today warned of retaliatory strikes days after South Korea fired warning shots at a North Korean patrol near the border.
A North Korean soldier looks south from the North side of the DMZ (Reuters)
South Korean troops on Monday fired warning shots as the North’s patrol approached the military demarcation line (MDL) that designates the border, but there was no exchange of fire and the group eventually turned back.
“The south Korean puppet military warmongers should be mindful that such reckless military provocations in the area of MDL may invite unforeseeable retaliation strikes, which will immediately lead to a great war of justice for national reunification”, the Front Command of the North’s military said.
“If they continue the military provocation despite our warning, they will have to pay at the cost of their blood.” There have been a series of minor skirmishes, involving exchanges of fire but no casualties, along the inter-Korean land and sea borders in recent months.
The Korean peninsula is divided by a 2.5 mile-(four kilometre)-wide band known as the demilitarised zone (DMZ) that runs 248 km (155 miles) from east to west.
The DMZ is something of a misnomer as it is one of the world’s most heavily militarised frontiers, bristling with watchtowers and landmines.