N. Korea military suffers 'multiple casualties' in landmine explosion near border: Report

Seoul: Several North Korean soldiers working near the heavily fortified border with the South were injured in a landmine explosion, the Yonhap News Agency said Tuesday, citing Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The agency also reported that South Korean soldiers fired warning shots after North Korean troops breached the military demarcation line.

Dozens of North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified border with the South on Tuesday and retreated after warning shots were fired, Seoul's military said.

It is the second such incident involving North Korean troops in two weeks, with Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff saying they believed the Tuesday crossing -- like a previous one on June 9 -- was accidental.

The two Koreas remain technically at war as the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice not a peace treaty, with the demilitarized zone and line of control dividing the peninsula one of the most heavily mined places in the world.

The North Koreans were working on creating "barren land" and laying mines along the border, an official from the JCS said, but ended up "suffering multiple casualties from repeated landmine explosion incidents during their work".

Even so, the North's military "appear to be recklessly pressing ahead with the operations," the official said.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked North Korea for supporting his actions in Ukraine and said their countries will cooperate closely to overcome U.S.-led sanctions as he headed to Pyongyang on Tuesday for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Putin’s comments appeared in an op-ed piece in North Korean state media hours before he was expected to arrive in the North for a two-day visit as the countries deepen their alignment in the face of separate, intensifying confrontations with Washington.