On the 7th, Yonhap News reported that a North Korean naval patrol vessel had crossed the NLL (Northern Limit Line), the Korean maritime border. It is reported that though the vessel retreated after a number of warning shots were fired from a South Korean missile patrol boat, the two vessels were locked in a brief but potentially lethal fire fight.
The Korean Ministry of Defense told the press that no lives were lost during the exchange. Witnesses testified that the North Korean navy was using what appeared to be a machine gun against the South Korean sailors, who retaliated with their 76mm cannon. The crew of the South Korean missile vessel noted that none of the rounds they had fired made contact with the North Korean boat.
Although some political experts have expressed that the North Korean boat may have accidently crossed the NLL while keeping their own fishing boats away from the border, others have noted that the North Korean government may be trying to effect the status quo in light of the upcoming conference of North and South Korean high-ranking officials.
When North Korea had first announced that it will be sending 3 of its government officials for a conference with South Korean representatives, many looked upon this as a remarkable breakthrough in the relationship between the two governments. One of the 3 officials included Byeong-Seo Hwang, who was considered to be the right-hand-man of Kim Jung-Un, the 1st Secretary of the Labor Party and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army.
Yong-hyun Kim, a professor of political science at Dongkuk University stated that North Korea is using its military near the border to pressure the South Koreans before getting into negotiations. Other experts have noted that North Korea is using such military provocations in order to maintain an atmosphere not only throughout the entire peninsula, but particularly among the North Korean people, keeping the citizens in line while playing out a belief that the South Korean military is always out to get them.
According to Voice of America, Mingu Han, the Minister of Defense stated that South Korea will not tolerate any further provocations from North Korea, and that the Korean forces will do all it can to keep the KPA from crossing the border which they have defended all these years “with blood”.
The NLL, the Korean maritime border has always been a place of great tension even before the Korean War in 1950. Perhaps the most tragic battle between the North and South Korean navies was the naval battle in 2002 which took place literally right before Korea made it into the semi-finals during the Korea-Japan World Cup. At the time, a North Korean vessel entered South Korean seas and opened fire upon a South Korean patrol boat that was following it for several hours. With the help of additional South Korean vessels, the battle resulted in the sinking of a North Korean and South Korean vessel, the deaths of around 30 North Koreans, and 6 South Korean sailors. In 2010, a South Korean frigate warship was sunk by a torpedo that was fired from a North Korean submarine, resulting in the deaths of 200 sailors.
South Korea’s 2nd Fleet is always on standby near the NLL to be ready to respond to any possible threat from the North Korean navy.
