South Korea said its military fired warning shots to drive away a North Korean merchant vessel that crossed over the disputed western maritime boundary separating the uneasy neighbors in the Yellow Sea.
Why It Matters
The encounter occurred amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, fueled by North Korea’s United Nations-sanctioned ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs, and provision of troops and munitions to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.
South Korea, which hosts over 28,000 U.S. troops, has responded by strengthening security cooperation with its defense treaty ally and with Japan—a trilateral alliance North Korean leader Kim Jong Un claims poses a grave national security threat.
Though an armistice brought an end to Korean War hostilities in 1953, a peace treaty was never signed, leaving the two countries technically still in a state of war.
Newsweek reached out to the North Korean embassy in Beijing by email with a request for comment outside of office hours.
What To Know
The North Korean ship was discovered crossing over the Northern Limit Line into waters near the South Korean border island of Baengnyeong at approximately 5 a.m., according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
South Korean forces broadcast a radio warning and fired warning shots, prompting the merchant vessel to withdraw back over the line, a statement said. It added that the South Korean side’s actions were in accordance with standard operating procedures and that Seoul’s forces maintain a heightened state of readiness to safeguard territorial waters.
South Korean forces frequently fire warning shots to repel North Korean commercial and patrol vessels crossing the Northern Limit Line. Pyongyang does not recognize the demarcation, which was unilaterally established by the U.S.-led United Nations Command in 1953.
The area has on occasion been the site of clashes, including including the North’s 2010 shelling of a South Korean island and its alleged torpedoing of a South Korean navy ship, which together killed 50 South Koreans.
What People Have Said
Kim Jong Un, North Korean supreme leader, said in an address to the country’s rubber-stamp congress Sunday: “The reckless anti-DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] military moves, made by the ROK [Republic of Korea] in collusion with foreign forces, have turned the Korean Peninsula into a constant war danger zone where it would not be regarded as abnormal if a war breaks out right now.”
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Republic of Korea are the official names of North and South Korea, respectively.
What’s Next
North Korea had not yet publicly responded to the encounter at the time of writing.
Since taking office in June, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has sought to walk back tensions with North Korea, ordering the military to end propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts along the land border and calling for the return of a 2018 agreement meant to reduce the risk of conflict along the de-militarized zone.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
Read the full article here
