SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 16 (ANI) — North Korea on Sunday maintained complete silence regarding South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s proposal to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War, even as details emerged that South Korean forces fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the border, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
South Korea’s military fired warning shots last week after multiple North Korean soldiers crossed the Military Demarcation Line inside the eastern sector of the Demilitarized Zone. Following the warning protocol, the North Korean troops promptly retreated to their side of the inter-Korean land boundary, with military officials saying the soldiers appeared to be conducting routine patrol operations.
The incident marked the first recorded border violation and warning-shot response by the South Korean military along the Military Demarcation Line this year, following similar brief crossings by North Korean personnel in 2025 during border fortification work.
The border tensions coincided with Pyongyang ignoring a fresh diplomatic proposal from Seoul. During his address marking the 81st anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule on Saturday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung offered to restart inter-Korean dialogue to formally replace the 1953 armistice agreement with a permanent peace regime and pursue peaceful coexistence.
Lee became South Korea’s president last year after his predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, was impeached for attempting to declare martial law.
Lee expressed hope that the two nations “will sit face-to-face for peaceful coexistence and mutual growth.”
However, North Korea’s official state media, including the Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, offered no coverage or response to Lee’s address on Sunday morning. Instead, state outlets focused entirely on internal celebrations of Liberation Day, including public pledges of loyalty at monuments honoring former leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, Yonhap reported.
North Korea has continued testing ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, which has been perceived in Seoul and neighboring Japan as an attempt to intimidate and project power. Pyongyang declared itself a military power in 2022.
Because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty, the two Koreas technically remain at war, with more than 250 kilometers of heavily fortified border separating them.
The diplomatic standstill comes amid heightened military readiness across the Korean Peninsula ahead of the annual U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, Ulchi Freedom Shield, which are set to begin Monday.
Pyongyang routinely condemns the joint exercises as invasion rehearsals and has pledged to strengthen its nuclear and military deterrence against Washington and Seoul.
Meanwhile, the Russian ship Pallada arrived at Wonsan port for a goodwill visit Saturday in connection with the liberation anniversary.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un also reaffirmed the deepening ties between North Korea and Russia in a message to President Vladimir Putin as Pyongyang marked the anniversary of the country’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, the KCNA state news agency said Sunday, as cited by Channel News Asia.
The CNA report said Pyongyang and Moscow have grown closer since the reclusive state began deploying troops and weapons to support Russia’s war against Ukraine, marking North Korea’s most significant involvement in a war since the 1950s. (ANI)
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