By Reuters:
South Korea fired warning footage in direction of a North Korean vessel that crossed the maritime border on Saturday, South Korea’s military acknowledged a day after the incident which received right here amid present stress over the North’s missile assessments.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) acknowledged it fired warning footage and broadcast warnings to expel a North Korean patrol boat that breached the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto sea boundary, at spherical 11:00 am on Saturday.
“Our military maintains decisive battle posture while monitoring the enemy’s movements in preparation for potential provocations regarding NLL violations by North Korean patrol boats,” the JCS acknowledged in a press launch on Sunday.
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During the operations, a South Korean patrol ship received right here into “minor contact” with a close-by Chinese fishing vessel on account of harmful visibility, resulting in no problems with security nevertheless slight accidents among the many many South Korean crew, the JCS added.
The North’s incursion received right here as stress flared over the North’s stepped-up military actions in present weeks, along with Friday’s check out of a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile which specialists say would facilitate missile launches with little warning.
Since the Nineteen Nineties, Pyongyang has disputed the NLL – drawn up on the end of the 1950-53 Korean War – arguing it should lie far to the south.
Last October, the two Koreas traded warning footage throughout the western waters, accusing each other of breaching the ocean border in an area the place confrontations have often occurred.
Pyongyang has threatened military movement as South Korea and US forces carry out their annual springtime exercises since March, calling them a rehearsal for nuclear battle.
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North Korean chief Kim Jong Un this week ordered strengthening battle deterrence in a “more practical and offensive” methodology to counter what the isolated nation referred to as strikes of aggression by the United States and South Korea.
Seoul and Washington say their drills are defensive and geared towards deterring the North.
