N. Korean merchant vessel crosses sea border, retreats after warning shots from South

A North Korean merchant vessel briefly crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea, the de facto maritime border between the Koreas, on Friday and retreated after South Korea's military fired warning shots, officials said. The North Korean vessel crossed the NLL near the South Korean border island of Baengnyeong at around 5 a.m. and remained on the southern side for an hour, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The vessel reportedly advanced up to 5 kilometers south of the NLL. The South Korean military, which had been monitoring the North Korean ship's advance toward the NLL, issued warning broadcasts, but the vessel crossed the line, triggering a South Korean Navy vessel to fire dozens of warning shots and shells. The North Korean ship subsequently veered westward and retreated from the South's maritime control area, JSC officials said. A 2,800-ton South Korean Navy convoy was conducting operations in the area at the time of the NLL breach. The military reportedly determined that, for now, the likelihood of the North Korean vessel intentionally crossing the NLL is slWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times