North Korea News: Days After Kim Jong Un 'Reappears,' Country Exchanges Gunfire With South Korea

Days after leader Kim Jong Un allegedly returned to the public eye, gunfire was exchanged between North and South Korea over the Demilitarized Zone that marks the countries’ border. The South Korean military reported that shots were fired from the North a guard post in Cheorwon, a region near the middle of the border. The South returned fire and warned against further action.

Yonhap, a news outlet in South Korea, reported that the South Korean government believes the shots from the North to be unintentional. U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo echoed this sentiment, stating the shots are thought to be “accidental.”

“A handful of shots that came across from the North,” Pompeo said in a Sunday interview. “We think those were accidental. South Koreans did return fire so far as we can tell there was no loss of life on either side.”

No casualties were reported as a result of the gunfire.

While most officials believe this incident to be an accident, it comes at a peculiar and sensitive time in North Korean politics. After a prolonged public absence of around three weeks, state-run media in the North reported that Kim Jong Un had appeared in public to open a fertilizer factory. Most news outlets and government agencies have been unable to verify the authenticity of the report, continuing to cast doubt on the state of North Korea’s leadership.

While South Korea has reported no unusual troop movements about North Korea, the secretive dictatorship has reportedly been holding an increased number of military drills recently. North Korea's state-run media claims that this is to prepare its army for “actual war.”