Monday October 24 (KST), Sunday in the U.S., a North Korean “merchant” vessel crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the disputed West Sea/Yellow Sea, prompting South Korea to fire warning shots in the waters near the boundary.
In response, North Korea fired artillery shells at South Korea, also as a supposed “warning.”
“At about 3:42 a.m., a North Korean merchant ship (Mupo) invaded the NLL at about 3:42 a.m. northwest of Baengnyeong Island in the West Sea,” says a statement (translated) issued by the South Korean military.
North Korean state propaganda claims it was the South that crossed the line, and that army released this statement: “We once again sternly warned to enemies that staged maritime provocations on top of the firing of artillery shots and cross-border loudspeaker broadcasts.”
This is just days after a similar incident reported by The Korea Times:
North Korea fired around 100 additional artillery shells into waters off its west coast Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, following its overnight launch of artillery rounds.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the shells lobbed into the Yellow Sea from Yonan County, South Hwanghae Province, starting at 12:30 p.m.
The shells landed in the western buffer zone set under an inter-Korean military agreement signed on Sept. 19, 2018, to reduce border tensions, according to the JCS. None of them fell into South Korean waters.
“Our military communicated a warning multiple times, regarding (the North’s) breach of the Sept. 19 military accord and the immediate cessation of provocations,” the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.
The North has repeatedly fired missile “tests” in the last few weeks and tensions have been very high.
Featured image: North Korea live fire drills October 2022. Photo via DPRK state media.