By Kim Tong-hyung
The Navy seized a North Korean fishing boat Thursday evening after it intruded into southern waters across the West Sea maritime border.
According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the boat crossed over the Northern Limit Line (NLL) at around 5.26 p.m. and moved about 1.8 kilometers into South Korean waters near Baengyeong Island. A naval ship seized the boat at around 8 p.m. after it refused to retreat despite warning shots.
The NLL, drawn by the United Nations Command after the Korean War (1950-53) as a line beyond which South Korean vessels were not to venture, has functioned as the de facto sea border between the Koreas. North Korea, however, has frequently disputed the NLL and the area has been the site of several deadly clashes between the two countries.
`` The boat was boarded and captured. We had to move in because weather conditions were worsening and we needed to ensure the safety of the North Korean crew,’’ the JCS said.
``The crew will be questioned as to why they crossed the NLL.’’
The JCS then warned that should the North use the seizure as an excuse to provoke the South, its forces will respond in a resolute manner.
Thursday's incursion came after nearly 15,000 South Korean and American troops started a 12-day amphibious landing drill, which represented the largest joint military exercise between the two countries in two decades.
The exercise will continue on the country’s southeastern coast until April 7. North Korea claims such exercises are provocative rehearsals for invasion, and has carried out a series of short-range missile launches in recent weeks, drawing an angry response from Seoul and Washington.