If you thought the Mexican-American border was fraught with danger spare a thought for those who live on the border between North and South Korea.

The South Korean Defence Ministry has said that they have today exchanged fire with their neighbours to the north. This was in response to a projectile fired by the North towards the western province of Gyeonggi. CNN reports:

The South Korean military responded by firing a few dozen shells at the area from which the North Korean projectile was fired, the official said.

Tension between the two countries has always been on a knife edge with recent incidents escalating the sense of mistrust. Two South Korean soldiers were seriously wounded by landmines in the demilitarised area that separates the two:

South Korea has accused the North of planting the mines, an allegation Pyongyang denies.

Seoul vowed a “harsh” response to the land mines and resumed blaring propaganda messages over the border from huge sets of loudspeakers.

The move infuriated North Korea, which called the broadcasting “a direct action of declaring a war.” It threatened over the weekend to blow up the South Korean speakers and also warned of “indiscriminate strikes.”

The most recent incident of cross-border fire happened in October of last year when patrol boats clashed in the Yellow Sea, North Korean gunners then shooting down balloons that carried messages criticising the regime and its leader.

One would hope this doesn’t escalate further but we know Kim Jong-un isn’t one to back down from a challenge so it might get messy.

[source:cnn]