N. Korean vessels violate maritime border

By Jun Ji-hye

Two North Korean vessels violated the de facto inter-Korean maritime border in the West Sea, Friday, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

A fishing boat and a patrol boat from the North crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) by some 700 to 800 meters at 7:30 a.m., which led the South Korean Navy to fire five warning shots at them.

“The vessels returned to the northern side at 7:38 a.m.,” the JCS said.

It was the second time that a vessel from the North has crossed into South Korean territory this year.

The first violation occurred on Feb. 8, only a day after Pyongyang launched a long-range rocket, which is widely seen as a cover to test the regime’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) technology. At the time, a North Korean patrol boat crossed the NLL, but retreated after the Navy fired warning shots.

The NLL was drawn by the U.S.-led U.N. forces at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, but the North has refused to acknowledge it. Pyongyang has long demanded that the line be moved farther south.

The JCS said the latest violation could be a sign that the communist state is preparing for local provocations, although the regime is repeatedly raising calls on the South to talk.

Officials said the NLL intrusion also might be intended to test the South’s combat readiness, adding they are staying alert and keeping a close eye on any strange movement in the North.

Since May 20, the North’s National Defense Commission, Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces and the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea have urged the South to accept an offer for dialogue.

But on Thursday, the National Defense Commission urged the United States to stop its hostile policy against Pyongyang, saying, “It is our last warning,” according to the North’s state media, the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA).

In its recently published report, the Sejong Institute, Seoul’s private think tank, said the possibility of the repressive state conducting another nuclear test is high as the North is striving to intimidate others to engage in peace treaty talks.

“The possibility is high that the North will sooner or later conduct its fifth nuclear test or fire off another long-range missile,” the institute said, adding that such actions are aimed at getting other countries to come to the negotiating table for peace treaty talks.