South Korean troops fired at a suspected North Korean drone that crossed the border Wednesday, as President Park Geun-Hye pushed China to back harsh sanctions on Pyongyang over its latest nuclear test. The defence ministry said the drone effected a brief incursion, but swiftly returned to the North side when South Korean troops fired a series of warning shots.
Any shooting on what is probably the world's most heavily militarised border is rare and a cause for concern, though there was no exchange of fire and the incident showed no immediate sign of escalating. But it fuelled already heightened tensions on the frontier, where the South has been blasting high-decibel propaganda broadcasts into the North as punishment for last week's nuclear test. Earlier in the day, President Park told an annual press conference that the nuclear test was an "unacceptable challenge" to global security that had to be met with unprecedented severity.
"The international community's counter measures... must differ from the past," Park said. As well as working with the United Nations to adopt the "strongest" resolution to penalise North Korea, Seoul would also discuss additional "punitive sanctions" with the United States and its allies, she added. The president stressed that China, North Korea's main ally and economic benefactor, would be critical in securing an effective Security Council resolution.
Noting Beijing's public admonishments of Kim's regime over its nuclear programme, Park said it was time for China to move beyond rhetoric. "I believe China is aware that if its strong determination is not put into actual, necessary actions, we will not be able to prevent a fifth or sixth nuclear test," she said.
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