10 things you need to know today: May 3, 2020

North Korea, South Korea exchange gunfire across DMZ, Coronavirus trends continue to vary significantly by country, and more

Kim Jong Un.
(Image credit: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

1. North Korea, South Korea exchange gunfire across DMZ

Gunshots were fired Sunday morning from the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone, striking a guard post in South Korea. South Korea, which reported no casualties, responded by firing two shots toward North Korea. The two countries are technically still in a state of war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty, and they've exchanged fire in similar fashion on occasion, but Seoul is reportedly perplexed by the timing of the latest incident. The gunfire comes one day after North Korea reported the first public appearance by its leader, Kim Jong Un, in three weeks, mostly squashing rumors that he was in ill heath or had died.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.