Two Koreas Exchange Fire at Sea Border

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/world/asia/two-koreas-exchange-fire-at-sea-border.html

Version 0 of 1.

SEOUL, South Korea — South and North Korean navy patrol boats exchanged fire at a disputed western sea border on Tuesday, three days after the two rival nations raised hopes for a thaw in their long-tense relations by agreeing to resume high-level dialogue this year.

No vessel from either side was hit in the exchange of heavy machine guns, said the South Korean military’s Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff. But the brief skirmish served as a reminder of how fragile the peace on the divided Korean Peninsula remained.

The episode was set off when a North Korean patrol boat breached the disputed sea border and sailed half a nautical mile into waters controlled by South Korea, military officials said.

A South Korean navy ship first broadcast a warning to the intruder to return to the North and fired five warning shots. The North Korean vessel responded, firing an unknown number of warning shots in return. Then, the South Korean ship unleashed a barrage of 94 machine-gun rounds, a Defense Ministry official said, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity.

The encounter, in the Yellow Sea about 75 miles west of Seoul, ended in about 10 minutes as the North Korean ship retreated, he added.

Armed standoffs along the western sea border, commonly known as the Northern Limit Line, or N.L.L, are not unusual.

The South has often accused the North of sending boats across to highlight its claim to waters south of the line, which was drawn by the United Nations at the end of the Korean War but was never accepted by the North.

Bloody skirmishes were fought in waters around the disputed border in 1999, 2002 and 2009. In 2010, North Korea pounded one of the South Korean islands there with artillery, killing four people.

On Saturday, a high-powered North Korean delegation made a surprise visit to attend the closing ceremony of the Asian Games in the South Korean city of Incheon. Top South Korean policy makers met with the North Koreans, and both sides agreed to resume a formal dialogue between late this month and early November.