[Yonhap News Photo]
North Korea's military accused South Korea of opening fire at birds flying across the heavily guarded inter-Korean border, refuting charges that the launch of balloons carrying propaganda leaflets sparked gunfire.
The accusation came from a General Staff spokesman who claimed South Korean soldiers fired about 450 shots after mistaking a flock of birds for "flying" objects Tuesday.
"The recent military provocation is a stopgap measure to check the war-weariness sweeping the puppet army in the face of (North Korea's) rapidly developing nuclear and ballistic rocket technology," the spokesman said in a statement carried Thursday by Pyongyang's official KCNA news agency.
South Korean front-line soldiers in the northeastern border town of Chorwon fired warnings shots several times Tuesday after spotting North Korean propaganda balloons flying into the southern side of the demilitarized zone which split the Korean peninsula following the 1950-53 Korean conflict.
The cross-border flight of spy drones and propaganda balloons launched by each side has caused intermittent gunfire. In October 2014, North Korean troops opened fire in an attempt to shoot down a set of South Korean balloons, sparking a brief exchange of fire.
In recent months, Pyongyang has bombarded South Korean border areas with its own propaganda leaflets.
In a separate statement on Thursday, the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, a North Korean state body, said that Pyongyang would step up efforts to diversify and modernize its nuclear force. It also blasted South Korea for "dancing to the tune" of outsiders.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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