Volley of Gunfire Precedes Cohen Visit to Korean DMZ

North and South Korean troops exchanged warning shots at their tense border Thursday shortly before U.S. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen flew to the area, U.S. and South Korean officials said.

Southern troops on patrol within the Demilitarized Zone fired 10 shots into the air after spotting a group of North Korean soldiers who had crossed the border, the officials said.

“The North Korean soldiers fired back warning shots and withdrew,” a Seoul military spokesman said.

The shooting in the eastern sector of the heavily fortified DMZ took place at 9:30 a.m. About an hour later, Cohen flew by helicopter to the border village of Panmunjom, about 60 miles west of the flash point.

Standing at the DMZ, set up as a buffer zone under an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, Cohen denounced North Korea’s “decaying and dying” Communist system and called on Pyongyang to make peace with South Korea.

Cohen later said of the shooting incident, “It confirms that it is still a very tense, dangerous, unstable situation as far as the North Koreans are concerned. We have to be vigilant.”

Pyongyang earlier criticized Cohen’s remarks about troop deployments on the Korean peninsula.

South Korean President Kim Young Sam urged Pyongyang to accept a proposal for peace talks that he has made with President Clinton.

North Korea has said it will respond to the offer for four-way peace talks--which will include China--on Wednesday, exactly one year after Clinton and Kim challenged Pyongyang to finally replace the Korean truce with a permanent peace.

Pyongyang, desperate for food to stave off looming famine, is expected to agree to come to the peace table, albeit with conditions, Seoul officials said.

To prod Pyongyang into talks, Washington and Seoul have facilitated private food shipments to North Korea from international charities.