North Korea and South Korea fired warning shots at each other near a nautical border after Seoul said a merchant vessel from its neighbor crossed the line, adding to a recent series of provocations along one of the world’s most militarized boundaries.
South Korea’s military said it fired warning shots after the North Korean vessel violated the western sea border at 3:42 a.m. Monday. Pyongyang responded by firing about 10 artillery shells less than two hours later toward a South Korean ship that landed on the north side of the line, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
No damage was reported to any vessel but the incident comes as North Korea has tested border safety agreements in recent weeks by flying warplanes near South Korean airspace and firing scores of artillery shells off its coasts.
Pyongyang said it made the moves to warn South Korea against joint military drills with the U.S. that in recent weeks have also included Japan. North Korea has also been showing its anger at the exercises by firing off one of its biggest barrages of ballistic missiles under leader Kim Jong Un, including shooting its first missile over Japan in five years.
The General Staff of North Korea’s army issued a statement shortly after the incident along the nautical border Monday, saying it was sending “a grave warning to the enemies,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported. Seoul called on its neighbor to stop raising tensions, saying it is harming peace and security on the peninsula.
While the armistice that ended the 1950-1953 Korean War spelled out land borders, there is no such agreement for the Yellow Sea border known as the Northern Limit Line. It was drawn unilaterally by U.S.-led forces after the conflict, and waters around the boundary have been the site of clashes, including a 2010 incident where South Korea claimed North Korea torpedoed one of its warships south of the line, killing 46 sailors. North Korea has denied the accusation.
North Korea appears ready to take tensions to the highest levels in years, with the U.S., South Korea and Japan all saying that Kim’s regime is ready to test a nuclear device for the first time since 2017. North Korea may have been holding off on a test so as not to upset its biggest benefactor China as it was holding its Communist Party congress, which finished over the weekend.
Any display of the weapons in leader Kim’s nuclear arsenal would serve as a reminder of the pressing security problems posed by Pyongyang that have simmered as U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has been focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
