SEOUL: A South Korean soldier mistakenly fired a machine gun near the border with North Korea, prompting the military to inform Pyongyang that the shooting was unintentional, a report said Sunday.

Four live rounds were fired during a training along the border in Gangwon province on Saturday evening, Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korean military officials.

All of the bullets landed on the South’s side and no damage was reported.

The military unit immediately informed North Korea that the firings were not intentional and stepped up readiness posture, the officials said.

“No particular signs have been detected from the North’s side, and an investigation is under way over the exact circumstances of the incident,” an unnamed military official told Yonhap.

The two Koreas technically remain at war after fighting was halted by an armistice in 1953, and are separated by the four-kilometre-wide demilitarised zone (DMZ) that runs for 250 kilometres (160 miles) across the Korean peninsula.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2023