Two North Korean Patrol Boats Cross Northern Limit Line

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that on Friday around 10:40 a.m., two North Korean patrol boats crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) of the western sea border with South Korea, but the boats returned to the North Korean waters after several warnings from a South Korean navy high-speed patrol boat.

It is the first time a North Korean patrol boat has crossed the NLL since December 7 of last year.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the two North Korean patrol boats intruded up to 1.7 miles (about 3 km) south of the NLL. At that time, four to five Chinese fishing vessels were illegally fishing near the NLL.

As soon as the North Korean patrol boats crossed over the NLL, the South’s high-speed patrol boat swung into action, sending four warnings for their immediate return to the North’s waters and informing the North that the South would fire warning shots if they did not comply with their demands.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff explained that the two North Korean patrol boats responded by saying they were “supervising a third country’s fishing vessels,” and that the two boats returned to the North’s water at 10:56 a.m. and 11:13 a.m., respectively.

Sang-Ho Yun ysh1005@donga.com