Koreans Trade Fire Near DMZ

North and South Korean troops along their heavily fortified border exchanged gunfire Monday night for the first time in nearly a year, a South Korean military official said today.

North Korean troops fired two shots, one of which hit a South Korean guard post near the demilitarized zone, and South Korean troops returned six shots, Maj. Kim Tae-hoon said. No one was hurt, he said.

The last time there was an exchange of gunfire along the demilitarized zone was in October 2005, Kim said, when North Korea fired a bullet at a South Korean post and the South returned fire.

The navies of the two nations clashed along a disputed maritime border in 2002, resulting in deaths on both sides.

The two Koreas are technically still at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

North Korea has stationed most of its 1.2 million troops near the demilitarized zone. South Korea has more than 650,000 military personnel, who are supported by 30,000 U.S. troops.

The latest shooting incident came as relations between North and South have soured.

North Korea test-fired missiles about a month ago.

Seoul later said it would suspend humanitarian aid until Pyongyang returned to sixnation talks on ending its nuclear weapons program.

Since then, North Korea has halted reunions of families separated since the Korean War.