Days before Russia President Vladimir Putin’s expected trip to North Korea, gunfire erupted at the North-South Korea border, igniting fresh tensions. South Korea claimed that soldiers from Kim Jong Un’s military breached the border, prompting their own forces to warn them with gunfire. This clash coincided with the departure of North Korean officials for a diplomatic trip to Russia. Against the backdrop of escalating conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, the prospect of a full-blown war on the Korean Peninsula looms ominously.