Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – South Korea fired warning shots at a North Korean ship crossing the maritime border, a day after an incident that further raised tensions over a North Korean missile test.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it fired warning shots and broadcast warnings to chase away North Korean patrol boats that had violated the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto sea boundary, at around 11:00 am on Saturday.
“Our military maintains a decisive battle posture while monitoring enemy movements in preparation for potential provocations regarding violations of the NLL by North Korean patrol boats,” JCS said in a statement on Sunday (16/4/2023), quoted Reuters.
JCS said during the operation, a South Korean patrol boat had “little contact” with a nearby Chinese fishing vessel due to poor visibility, resulting in no safety issues but minor injuries among the South Korean crew.
The North Korean incursions come as tensions have flared over increased North Korean military activity in recent weeks, including Friday’s test of a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile that experts say will facilitate a missile launch with little warning.
Since the 1990s, Pyongyang has disputed the NLL – created at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War – on the grounds that it should be further south.
In October, the two Koreas exchanged warning shots in western waters, accusing the other of violating maritime boundaries in an area where confrontations are frequent.
Pyongyang has threatened military action as South Korean and US troops have been conducting their annual spring drills since March, calling them rehearsals for nuclear war.
South Korea’s air force said on Sunday it would conduct joint exercises with the US Air Force and Marines from Monday to April 28.
The exercise will deploy 110 aircraft, including South Korean F-35 and F-15 fighters and American F-16 jets and KC-135 aerial refueling tankers, as well as 1,400 troops from both sides.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un this week ordered a strengthening of war deterrence in “more practical and offensive” ways to counter what the isolated nation has called moves of aggression by the United States and South Korea.
(luc/luc)
