북한에서 시작된 산불이 DMZ 동부로 확산되고 있다.

[홀랜]

Jung Min-kyung

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The woodlands near the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas (The Korea Herald database / the Cultural Heritage Administration)

A wildfire that started in the North Korean part of the Demilitarized Zone has spread throughout the eastern part of the border, military officials said Friday.

At 6:30 a.m., two Korea Forest Service helicopters flew to the eastern DMZ area in the South Korean border county of Goseong, some 150 kilometers northeast of Seoul to extinguish the fire, authorities said.

The fire started at 4:30 p.m. Thursday and the cause is not yet known, the Joint Chiefs of Staff added.

The fire, which broke out in the North Korean part of the DMZ, was mostly extinguished as of Friday morning with no casualties or damages reported in the South Korean side of the border.

The JCS said they aired broadcasts in advance to inform North Korea before dispatching helicopters to the DMZ. There were no response from North Korea as of press time.

"Our military is maintaining readiness while closely monitoring North Korean activities," the JCS said.

Friday’s announcement comes almost a week after the South’s firefighters were deployed to the DMZ to extinguish a separate wildfire that broke out in the North and spread across the border near Cheorwon County, Gangwon Province. Firefighters had to leave to scene due to safety issues after sunset, but the blaze was later extinguished by rain, according to the South’s authorities. There were signs that the North detected the wildfire at the time.

Wildfires frequently occur in the DMZ area, with observers citing the North’s annual weeding operations near the border as a main cause of the outbreak.

South Korea is still reeling from devastating wildfires that ravaged across the southeastern region and left 31 people dead. The multiple wildfires are thought to have consumed over 45,000 hectares in the northern North Gyeongsang Province alone, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents in the area.

The DMZ is a heavily militarized buffer zone between the two Koreas, and was established as part of the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953, following the 1950-53 Korean War. The strip of land is about 250 kilometers long and 4 kilometers wide.

mkjung@heraldcorp.com