Second N. Korean violation probed
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Almost two million troops line the bothv sides of the DMZ dividing North and South Korea
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SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- A day after a North Korean MiG fighter sparked a battle alert among South Korean forces, the U.N. Command on the peninsula is investigating a possible second armistice violation by a North Korean soldier.
The alleged incident involving a soldier crossing the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) into the South apparently took place at around the same time Thursday morning as the North Korean jet briefly intruded into southern airspace.
South Korea has issued a strongly worded protest to its northern neighbor over the jet's actions, describing the incursion as "provocative" and demanding a full explanation. (Full story)
A statement issued Friday from the U.S.-led United Nations Command in South Korea said a delegation had been sent to the truce village of Panmunjom, which straddles the frontier, to investigate the second incident.
"One of a six-member KPA [Korean People's Army] brush-clearing detail accompanied by five KPA guards allegedly crossed the Military Demarcation Line near the joint duty officer Thursday morning," the statement said.
Machine guns
"A special investigation team will collect facts pertinent to the alleged violation and report the findings and recommendations to the military armistice commission."
In December, North Korean troops took machine guns into the DMZ in violation of the agreement, which prohibits such weapons in the zone.
The troops were accompanying construction workers clearing landmines and building a new transportation corridor between the two Koreas.
The U.N. Command was set up after the United Nations authorized a multinational military force to aid South Korea after it was invaded by Soviet-backed North Korea in June 1950.
