Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korean and South Korean military units exchanged gunfire near their border Friday, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported. The exchange happened after North Korean forces fired two shots at a South Korean military guard post near the border in Hwacheon, South Korea, about 73 miles (118 km) northeast of Seoul, Yonhap reported, citing an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com<v:shapetype id=_x0000_t75 stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" oreferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><vath o:connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t" o:extrusionok="f"></vath><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:shapetype><v:shape style="WIDTH: 43.5pt; HEIGHT: 17.25pt; VISIBILITY: visible; mso-wrap-style: square" id=Picture_x0020_2 alt="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/mosaic/bttn_close.gif" type="#_x0000_t75" o:spid="_x0000_i1026"><v:imagedata o:title="bttn_close" src="file:///C:\Users\WCANUE~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif"></v:imagedata></v:shape> <v:shape style="WIDTH: 480pt; HEIGHT: 270pt; VISIBILITY: visible; mso-wrap-style: square" id=Picture_x0020_3 alt="http://www.cnn.com/video/international/2010/05/19/bs.yoon.dmz.tour.cnn.640x360.jpg" type="#_x0000_t75" o:spid="_x0000_i1025"><v:imagedata o:title="bs.yoon.dmz.tour.cnn.640x360" src="file:///C:\Users\WCANUE~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image002.jpg"></v:imagedata></v:shape> The gunfire exchange apparently won't cancel reunions of families separated by the Korean War, which ended in a truce but no formal peace treaty. The weeklong reunions begin Saturday at Mount Kumgang, the two countries' joint mountain resort in the North. North Korea has requested record shipments of rice and fertilizer in exchange for concessions on the reunions, Yonhap said earlier this week. While there are occasional shooting incidents across the demilitarized zones, the tensest flash point on the peninsula in recent years has been the disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea. There were fatal naval clashes there in 1999 and 2002. In March this year, the sinking of a South Korean vessel killed 26 in what a South Korean and international investigation team concluded was a North Korean torpedo attack. North Korea continues to deny involvement. The prickly relationship between the countries since the Korean War has had periodic conciliatory moves and flare-ups. Friday's incident occurred two weeks before the G-20 summit in Seoul. The G-20 includes industrialized nations and developing economies, which focus on economic issues and economic policy coordination. Authorities said a total of 50,000 police and riot police will be deployed during the summit on November 11 and 12, according to Yonhap.
Nothing new, happens all the time. Still wondering why we are still there. ROK forces are more than able to defend their own country.
Against just NK yes. But, in the past their neighbor to the north of NK came down as well. China could be a real force to be reckoned with.
