NUKEWARS North Korean troops fire at South Korea army post: military

North Korean troops opened fire Friday at a South Korean army post near their tense border and the South's soldiers shot back, Seoul's military said, heightening tensions of next month's G20 summit. The North fired two bullets at a frontline guard post at 5:26 pm (0826 GMT) and South Korean soldiers immediately fired three shots in return from a machine gun, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. "There were no more shots afterwards. We are now closly watching their movements," a spokesman told AFP. He said no South Koreans were hurt in the firing near the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) dividing the two nations. Exchanges of fire break out occasionally near the heavily fortified frontier. But Friday's incident, in the Hwacheon area some 90 kilometres (56 miles) northeast of Seoul, came at a sensitive time as the South prepares to host the G20 summit in Seoul on November 11-12. Cross-border tensions have been high since the South accused the North of torpedoing one of its warships in March with the loss of 46 lives. Earlier Friday the North said relations would face a "catastrophic impact" if South Korea persists in rejecting military dialogue aimed at easing tensions on the peninsula. The first inter-Korean military talks for two years ended without progress in September after Seoul demanded an apology from Pyongyang for the warship sinking. Pyongyang refuses to accept the findings of a multinational investigation that blamed the tragedy on a North Korean night-time attack. It says it is the victim of a smear campaign. The communist state's military offered to hold a second round of talks on October 22. But the South rejected the offer, citing no change in the North's attitude. The rejection of dialogue "precisely meant confrontation and war", the North's military said in a statement, adding it would "no longer feel any interest in dialogue and contact". earlier related report N.Korea military renews threat against S.KoreaSeoul (AFP) Oct 29, 2010 - North Korea said Friday that cross-border relations would face a "catastrophic impact" if South Korea persists with rejecting military dialogue on easing tension. The first inter-Korean military talks for two years ended without progress in September after Seoul demanded an apology from Pyongyang for the deadly sinking of a warship. Pyongyang refused to accept the findings of a multinational investigation that blamed the March sinking and the death of 46 sailors on a North Korean torpedo. The communist state's military offered to hold a second round of talks on October 22. But the South rejected the offer, citing no change in the North's attitude. The rejection of dialogue "precisely meant confrontation and war", the North's military said in a statement published through state media, adding it would "no longer feel any interest in dialogue and contact". "The South Korean puppet military authorities will have to keenly realise what catastrophic impact their rejection of dialogue will have on the north-south relations," it said. After months of tension over the warship, the North has made some apparent conciliatory gestures. This weekend the two sides will resume reunions for families separated by war 60 years ago. But the North's tough rhetoric has continued apace. In a message to the South's military on October 15, it threatened to attack sites in South Korea if Seoul carries out its threat to start cross-border propaganda broadcasts and leaflet drops. The two sides reached a deal in 2004 to halt their cross-border propaganda war. But South Korean Defence Minister Kim Tae-Young said the speakers installed in border areas would be switched on and anti-Pyongyang leaflets would be launched in response to any fresh cross-border provocation. Activist groups already float balloons across the frontier which carry tens of thousands of leaflets denouncing the regime of leader Kim Jong-Il. The South says it has no law to ban this, but the North reacts angrily.