▲ This file photo, taken Nov. 28, 2023, from the border county of Yeoncheon, 60 kilometers north of Seoul, shows a North Korean guard post inside the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas. (Yonhap)

UN Command-NK border incursion

U.N. Command investigating inter-Korean land border incursion by N.K. troops, S. Korean loudspeaker broadcasts

By Chae Yun-hwan

SEOUL, June 13 (Yonhap) -- The U.S.-led U.N. Command (UNC) said Thursday it is investigating a series of incidents earlier this week involving some North Korean troops briefly crossing the inter-Korean land border and South Korea's anti-Pyongyang broadcasts through border loudspeakers.

On Tuesday, South Korea's military said some 20 North Korean soldiers crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas in the central section of the border Sunday before retreating northward after the South fired warning shots.

The incursion came just hours before the South blared anti-Pyongyang broadcasts toward the North for the first time in six years in response to the North's recent launches of trash-carrying balloons.

"We take our mission seriously at the United Nations Command and are currently investigating the recent issues with utmost diligence," the UNC said when asked about the incidents.

"Our actions are in strict accordance with the Armistice Agreement as we work towards deescalating the situation to ensure peace and stability in the region. We continue to call on the DPRK to return to dialogue using our established mechanisms."

DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The UNC is an enforcer of the armistice that stopped the fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War and oversees activities inside the DMZ -- a buffer zone between the two Koreas since the three-year conflict ended without a peace treaty.

The investigation comes amid heightened cross-border tensions set off by the North's recent trash-carrying balloon campaign.

Since May 28, the North is estimated to have launched more than 1,600 balloons in what has been called a "tit-for-tat" response to anti-Pyongyang leafleting by activists in South Korea.

The UNC is also investigating the North's garbage-loaded balloon launches, calling them a violation of the armistice.

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