DPRK accuses South Korea of military provocation in disputed waters

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Friday accused South Korean warships of "illegally infiltrating" its territorial waters and intimidating its fishing boats.

Military sources quoted by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said three South Korean warships intruded deep into the territorial waters of the north side in the eastern West Sea (Yellow Sea) south of the Kuwol Hill in Kangryong County, South Hwanghae province, at around 08:50 local time Friday (2350 GMT Thursday).

At around 09:25 (0025 GMT), the warships repeatedly warned the DPRK fishing boats that it would open fire on them if they did not turn back, the report said.

At the same time, two South Korean fighter planes over-flew the Yonphyong Islands threatening DPRK fishing boats, the report added.

"Such military provocations are nothing but premeditated provocations by the South Korean military to deliberately escalate again the tension in the controversial waters where two skirmishes occurred in the past in the West Sea," it said.

Navies of the two countries clashed around the inter-Korean sea border during the crab-catching seasons of June 1999 and 2002 resulting in heavy casualties on both sides.

The DPRK will watch with high vigilance moves following such provocations committed by South Korea after the adoption of an agreement at the inter-Korean general-level military talks, said the report.

"The South Korean military should not run riot, pondering over the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by the possible reoccurrence of armed conflicts in the controversial waters," it warned.

Military delegations from the two sides agreed on Friday to avoid accidental armed clashes in the disputed Northern Limit Line(NLL) at a general-level military talks in South Korea.

The DPRK does not accept the concept of the NLL in the Yellow Sea unilaterally drawn by the US-led United Nations Command after the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Source: Xinhua