North Korea claims South fired shots near border, risking ‘uncontrollable’ tensions

South Korea said its military fired the warning shots after soldiers from the North crossed the border

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South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea. Photo: AP

Published: 8:46am, 23 Aug 2025Updated: 10:13am, 23 Aug 2025

North Korea accused the South’s military on Saturday of firing warning shots at its troops near their heavily fortified border, saying it risked raising tensions to “uncontrollable” levels.

South Korea’s new leader Lee Jae-myung has sought to ease tensions with the nuclear-armed North and vowed to build “military trust”, but Pyongyang has said it has no interest in improving relations with Seoul.

The latest confrontation occurred on Tuesday as North Korean soldiers worked to permanently seal the frontier dividing the peninsula, Pyongyang’s state media said, citing a statement by Army Lieutenant General Ko Jong-chol.

Calling the incident a “serious provocation”, Ko said Seoul’s military used a machine gun to fire more than 10 warning shots towards the North’s troops, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Soldiers stand guard at the demilitarised zone between South and North Korea. Photo: dpa

“This is a very serious prelude that would inevitably drive the situation in the southern border area where a huge number of forces are stationed in confrontation with each other to the uncontrollable phase,” Ko said.

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