UNC’S CONCLUSION ON N. KOREA’S GP FIRING

[Anchor Lead]

North Korea shot at a South Korean guard post early this month, prompting South Korean soldiers to fire back in line with protocol. After investigating the matter, the UN Command has found that both sides had violated the Korean War armistice agreement. South Korea's defense ministry immediately expressed regret over the conclusion.

[Pkg]

​The UN Command's special task force has concluded that both Koreas had violated the Korean War armistice agreement. The task force says the North Korean army's firing of four rounds toward a South Korean guard post as well as South Korea's return fire of 30 rounds were both in violation of the agreement.

[Soundbite] COL. LEE PETERS(DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, UN COMMAND)

A UN Command official said that regardless of who fired first, when guns are fired and the bullets cross the military demarcation line, that's a violation of the armistice. The command did not determine whether the shooting by North Korean soldiers was intentional or not because the North did not respond to the investigation. The South Korean army had assessed that the North Korean gun fire was accidental. The UNC says the bullets fired by the North Korean soldiers were from a small gun. This also contradicts the South Korean military's finding that it was a medium-sized machine gun. Seoul's defense ministry immediately expressed regret over the UNC's announcement. The ministry said the South Korean army acted appropriately according to protocol. It pointed out that the UNC announced its conclusion without even investigating North Korea. It's rare for Seoul's military to issue an immediate response to the results of a probe conducted by the UNC. Seoul seems to want to stress its disappointment over the outcome of the command's investigation and its announcement.