By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The North Korean navy said Monday that it would designate the northern part of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea as a "maritime firing zone," accusing South Korea of violating the sea border frequently.
The announcement made by an unidentified spokesman for the North Korean navy is the latest rejection of the sea border drawn up by the U.S.-led United Nations Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
South Korea's Navy expressed regret over the provocative move, urging North Korea to observe the border.
"Our military is fully prepared to protect the NLL. If North Korea takes a provocative step near the border, we'll respond to it firmly," it said in a statement.
The North Korean spokesman said, "The frequent maritime violations by South Korean military war-mongers in our territorial waters have been recently expanding through dangerous artillery shooting."
The accusation came after North Korea claimed Friday that the South Korean army committed an "unpardonable military act" by firing artillery in the western maritime border region.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff have dismissed the North Korean claim, saying the artillery training was part of routine drills conducted south of the NLL.
North Korea has never acknowledged the western maritime border and has kept demanding the line be drawn further south.
The Koreas exchanged brief gunfire in the region just south of the NLL in November, where naval skirmishes turned bloody in 1999 and 2002.
Last month, another skirmish occurred near the NLL. A NorthKorean sailor was reportedly killed and three others were wounded in the gunfight, while there were no South Korean casualties.
North Korea vowed to take "merciless" military action to protect its own version of the West Sea border.