BREAKING NEWS: North Korea fires gunshots towards South Korea
- South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staffs said in a statement that North Korea had fired a series of gunshots towards the country early Sunday
- The shots were fired towards a guard post in South Korea
- South Korea said it responded by firing two shots back towards North Korea
- The South said it is taking action to try to ‘grasp the detailed situation’
- News of the attack came just one day after North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un resurfaced amid escalating reports he had died
North Korea fired multiple gunshots towards South Korea early Sunday morning, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staffs (JCS) said in a statement.
Gunfire broke out between the two nations when North Korea fired a series of shots towards a guard post in South Korea that borders the North at 7:41 am local time, the JCS said.
News of the attack came just one day after North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un resurfaced amid escalating reports he had died.
South Korea responded by firing two shots back towards North Korea, the JCS said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on May 1 when he resurfaced following reports he had died. North Korea has fired multiple gunshots towards South Korea, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staffs said in a statement
The South is taking action to try to ‘grasp the detailed situation’, it said.
‘We are taking actions via inter-Korean communication lines to grasp the detailed situation and to prevent any further incidents,’ the JCS statement read.
‘And we also maintain a necessary readiness posture.’
It is not clear why the gunfire erupted, but no injuries have been reported on either side.
The two nations regularly open fire on each other and technically remain in a constant state of war after the Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
Both sides have troops poised along the 155-mile border ready to open fire on the other side at any point.
Increased tensions between the two nations comes as Kim Jong-Un was seen for the first time in three weeks on Friday.
Speculation concerning the controversial leader’s health began to gain momentum after he failed to turn up at the celebration of his grandfather’s birthday on April 13, one of the country’s biggest calendar events.
A watch tower in North Korea pictured in 2017: A series of gunshots were fired from North Korea at 7:41 am local time towards a guard post in South Korea that borders the North, the JCS said
North Korea soldiers near the border in 2017: South Korea responded by firing two shots back towards North Korea, the JCS said
Rumors and reports grew that he had died.
But North Korea’s supreme leader then emerged alive, as he was pictured cutting the ribbon at the opening of a fertilizer factory Friday.
He ‘attended the ceremony’ at the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory on Friday and ‘all the participants broke into thunderous cheers of ‘hurrah!” when he appeared, the Korean Central News Agency said.
The dictator was seen smiling and talking to aides at the ceremony and also touring the plant, but the authenticity of the photos could not be verified.
He was accompanied by several senior North Korean officials including his younger sister Kim Yo Jong, Korean Central News Agency said.
There continues to be speculation over why he has not been seen in such a long time, including that he had complications after heart surgery or was suffering from the coronavirus.
South Korean soldiers patrol along a barbed wire fence in the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea
According to medical experts who viewed footage of the dictator’s return, Kim Jong-un’s wrist suggests he could have had heart surgery.
US-funded NK News reported that marks on Kim’s arms show he has had a ‘cardiovascular procedure’.
What appeared to be needle marks could be seen on his wrists while he rode in a golf cart that looked a lot like the one he used in 2014, when he returned to the public eye with a cane after some time away.
Kim has not been seen with marks on his wrists before.
President Donald Trump celebrated the dictator’s apparent return to the public eye in a social media post Saturday, stating he is glad to see him back in good health after rumors he had died.
The president retweeted pictures of Kim at the fertilizer factory and wrote: ‘I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well!’
It is unclear whether the White House has authenticated the pictures released by North Korean state media.