North issues new maritime challenge
In this stock photo, a South Korean Navy vessel patrols the waters around South Korea’s western Yeonpyeong Island, near the disputed west coast sea border with the North. North Korea said yesterday that it may fire weapons into seas around the Northern Limit Line and that South Korean ships should stay clear of the zone. [AP]
Through the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the naval command in Pyongyang announced that it would designate the areas near its sea border “a peacetime naval firing zone” for artillery units on the coast and islands in response to South Korea’s “reckless military provocations.”
The command added, “All fishing boats and warships are required to take security measures in that zone to protect themselves.”
The North does not recognize the Northern Limit Line, the de facto west coast sea border drawn by the United Nations at the end of the Korean War in 1953. The North says it was created in a unilateral decision and that the border should be drawn further to the south. The area it referred to yesterday includes South Korean waters as defined by the NLL.
The sea border disputes led to deadly exchanges in 1999 and 2002 near the west coast island of Yeonpyeong, and again near Daecheong island in November this year. In the most recent skirmish one North Korean was killed and several others were injured as the two sides traded fire.
A North Korean ship ignored the South’s warnings and crossed the NLL, prompting the South’s navy to fire shots. The North called the South Korean response “a grave armed provocation.”
Pyongyang has crossed the NLL 22 times this year, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, but the North has frequently accused the South of violating the border and warned that it would take military action if such moves continued.
The South Korean military didn’t take the North’s most recent statement as a surprise. One official, requesting anonymity, said this was only the latest attempt by the North to nullify the NLL.
“As far as I understand, North Korea is experiencing some chaos within after the currency revaluation,” the official said. “Perhaps the North is deliberately trying to create tension on the peninsula to rally the public and restore order internally.”
Another official in the military said the NLL remains the definitive sea border between North and South, and added: “We will respond firmly to any attempt to nullify the border, including violation of the border and shooting exercises across the line. We’re keeping a close eye on the North Korean military.”
In what has been a roller coaster of a year for inter-Korean relations, the North has mixed hostile rhetoric with conciliatory gestures to the South.
Most recently, Pyongyang accepted Seoul’s offer to provide the antiviral drug Tamiflu to help the North battle A(H1N1) flu, which has affected a confirmed nine people there.
Officials from the two Koreas are in the middle of their joint tour of industrial facilities in China and Vietnam, where they will discuss ways to improve the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North.
By Yoo Jee-ho [jeeho@joongang.co.kr]
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“모든 어선·함선, 자체 안전대책 스스로 세워라” 경고 해군 “도발 땐 단호히 대응”
북한이 서해 북방한계선(NLL) 아래 남측 수역을 북한 군의 사격 대상 지역으로 삼겠다고 나섰다.
북한 해군사령부 대변인은 21일 성명을 발표하고 북한이 일방적으로 선포한 서해 해상 군사분계선 수역을 “우리의 해안 및 섬 포병 구분대(대대급 이하 부대단위)들의 평시 해상 사격구역으로 선포한다”고 밝혔다.
한글 원문 기사 보기
북, NLL 남측에 해상사격구역 선포
“모든 어선·함선, 자체 안전대책 스스로 세워라” 경고 해군 “도발 땐 단호히 대응”
북한이 서해 북방한계선(NLL) 아래 남측 수역을 북한 군의 사격 대상 지역으로 삼겠다고 나섰다.
북한 해군사령부 대변인은 21일 성명을 발표하고 북한이 일방적으로 선포한 서해 해상 군사분계선 수역을 “우리의 해안 및 섬 포병 구분대(대대급 이하 부대단위)들의 평시 해상 사격구역으로 선포한다”고 밝혔다.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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