Posted November. 01, 2004 22:53,
Three North Korean naval boats sailed past the Northern Limit Line (NLL) despite warnings made by the Souths naval ships on November 1. They retreated behind the NLL after three warning shots were fired by the South.
This is the first time for the South Korean navy to fire warning shots at North Korean naval ships since July 14 when the South Korean navy failed to file reports of North-South hotline conversations through a military hierarchy.
Two North Korean naval ships initially approached the NLL about 6.5 miles northeast of Sochong-do at 10:25 a.m., said the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They ignored the first warning shot and sailed past the NLL at 10:54 a.m.
The South Korean navy issued two warnings, one at 11:03 a.m. and the other at 11:09 a.m., via radio. At 11:15 a.m., one boat started sailing north after violating the NLL. The other sailed past the NLL by as much as 2.7 miles, sending a response saying, We did not violate the NLL. We are trying to inspect a third countrys fishing boats.
At the NLL, about 80 Chinese fishing boats were illegally fishing.
As the Norths ships did not show their willingness to retreat, a South Korean speed boat fired warning shots with its automatic artillery respectively at 11:22 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
The Norths other naval ship sailed past the NLL even after the warning shot. The ship sailed past the NLL again at 12:01 p.m. A South Korean frigates gun fired four warning shots on three different occasions, and it withdrew at 12:17 p.m.
Meanwhile, another North Korean naval ship violated the NLL about 25 miles from the west of Yonpyong-do at about 11:00 a.m. It headed north at 11:24 a.m. when a South Korean boat radioed a warning.