by REERA YOO
North and South Korean navy patrol boats exchanged fire at the western maritime border on Tuesday, just three days after top officials from both nations agreed to resume high-level talks this year, reported the New York Times.
According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the two nations exchanged fire at around 9:50 a.m. near Yeonpyeong Island after a North Korean patrol boat breached the Northern Limit line (NLL). The South Korean patrol boat fired around 94 machine-gun rounds while the North Korean vessel shot dozens of rounds in return.
“To force the vessel to retreat, our side issued warning messages and fired five warning shots. But the North Korean vessel fired back rather than backing down, which caused us to fire again. Then the ship made a retreat,” JCS told Yonhap.
No injuries or damage were reported.
This is not the first time the two countries have exchanged fire at the disputed sea border. In 2010, North Korea shelled Yeonpeong Island and killed four South Koreans, and just two weeks earlier, South Korea fired warning shots after a North Korean patrol boat crossed the sea border.
On Saturday, North Korea’s senior officials made a surprise visit to Incheon for the closing ceremony of the Asian Games. The North Korean delegation was led by Hwang Pyong-so, who is considered to be the second-most powerful man behind Kim Jong-un. Both sides agreed to resume high-level dialogue about cross-border issues and the reunion of families separated by the Korean War between the end of October and early November.
Photo courtesy of Song Kyeong-seok/EPA and Telegraph U.K.
