N Korean soldiers cross border, warning shots fired

SEOUL, May 26: Two North Korean soldiers crossed the military border with the South today but retreated after South Korean guards fired warning shots, the office of Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The intrusion comes two days after North Korea abruptly called off planned test runs of trains across the border, which would have been a deeply symbolic step in generally warming ties.

Pyongyang cited a lack of military guarantees for the safety of the train crossings and the ''unstable situation'' in the South for its decision to cancel pilot runs scheduled for Thursday.

A statement by the Joint Chiefs said a group of five North Korean soldiers had approached the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) border at the heart of the 4-km wide Demilitarised Zone despite repeated loudspeaker warnings.

Two of the men crossed the line and walked about 20 to 30 metres before South Korean guards fired warning shots and the soldiers retreated at once, it said.

Several North Korean soldiers had been seen fishing at a nearby stream before the incident, and the border violation was probably unintentional, Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified South Korean officer as saying.

While South and North remain technically at war under the inconclusive truce that halted the 1950-53 Korean War, political and commercial ties have improved in the past six years.

But military tensions remain high, and progress at military talks have been slow.

The MDL runs 248 km across the peninsula, at the centre of the Demilitarised Zone separating the rival states.

Reuters