South Korean army soldiers patrol along the barbed-wire fence in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)2025-04-08T09:29:28Z SEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Koreas military fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed the rivals tense border on Tuesday, South Korean officials said.South Koreas military said in a statement that about 10 North Korean soldiers returned to the North after South Korea made warning broadcasts and fired warning shots. It said the North Korean soldiers violated the military demarcation line at the eastern section of the border at 5 p.m.South Koreas military said it is closely monitoring North Korean activities.Bloodshed and violent confrontations have occasionally occurred at the Koreas heavily fortified border, called the Demilitarized Zone. But when North Korean troops briefly violated the border in June last year and prompted South Korea to fire warning shots, it didnt escalate into a major source of tensions. South Korean officials assessed that the soldiers didnt deliberately commit the border intrusion and the site was a wooded area and military demarcation line signs there werent clearly visible. South Korea said the North Koreans were carrying construction tools. The motive for Tuesdays border crossing by North Korean soldiers wasnt immediately clear. The 248-kilometer (155-mile) -long, 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) -wide DMZ is the worlds most heavily armed border. An estimated 2 million mines are peppered inside and near the border, which is also guarded by barbed wire fences, tank traps and combat troops on both sides. Its a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. Animosities between the Koreas are running high now as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to flaunt his military nuclear capabilities and align with Russia over President Vladimir Putins war on Ukraine. Kim is also ignoring calls by Seoul and Washington to resume denuclearization negotiations. Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would reach out to Kim again to revive diplomacy. North Korea has not responded to Trumps remarks and says U.S. hostilities against it have deepened since Trumps inauguration.South Korea, meanwhile, is experiencing a leadership vacuum after the ouster of President Yoon Suk Yeol last week over his ill-fated imposition of martial law. __Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report. HYUNG-JIN KIM Hyung-jin is an Associated Press reporter in Seoul, South Korea. He reports on security, political and other general news on the Korean Peninsula. twitter mailto