The two Koreas exchanged fire around a guard post in the south yesterday morning, stirring tension a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended a three-week absence period by appearing in the official media during a factory visit.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that several shots were fired from North Korea yesterday morning towards a guard post in South Korea on the border.
She added that South Korea responded with two shots towards North Korea, and there were no reports of any injuries.
The exchange of fire represents the latest confrontation between the two Koreas technically at war.
In a lengthy interview with reporters yesterday, an official of the South Korean Joint Staff said that the shooting was not an apparently planned provocation because the area in which it occurred was agricultural land, but he declined to give a clear conclusion about this incident.
The Vice-President of the Asian Institute of Political Studies Choi Kang said that the timing of this provocation proves that Kim is still in charge of the North Korean army.
He added, "Yesterday, Kim was trying to prove he was in good health. Today, Kim is trying to end all speculation that he may not have full control of the army."
The professor of international affairs at the University of Iowa at Seoul Life-Erik Easli said the shooting incident may have been aimed at boosting morale in the North Korean army.
"Maybe the Kim regime is looking to raise the morale of its forces stationed on the frontline, and to restore any negotiating influence, during the weeks of the leader's absence, during which rumors circulated," he added.
On the other hand, the South Korean Yonhap News Agency quoted a senior government official as saying, "The North Korean leader did not undergo surgery during his absence from public life."
The South Korean official declined to explain the reasons for his belief that Kim had not undergone surgery, but said that "the reports that he said he may have had surgery, indicating the difference in his way of walking," are incorrect.
Kim appeared in pictures, smiling and speaking to his advisers during the opening ceremony, and also on a tour of the factory. Government television footage showed that Kim's leg movements appeared difficult and convulsive.