Tag: NLL

The NLL in the Yellow Sea has always been a flashpoint that could lead to a wider conflict. The ROK defense minister is clearly letting the North Korean regime know that any provocation they launch could lead to a wider conflict:

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik visits a memorial for 46 sailors killed in the 2010 sinking of the ROKS Cheonan corvette on the 14th anniversary of the incident at Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea on March 26, 2024, in this photo provided by his office. 

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik on Tuesday called for defending the western sea border against enemy threats on the anniversary of the 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship by a North Korean torpedo attack.

The ROKS Cheonan corvette sank near the western Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de facto inter-Korean sea border, in March 2010, after a North Korean midget submarine fired a torpedo at it, killing 46 sailors.

“North Korea is claiming the NLL is a ghost line without legal grounds and is continuously trying to nullify it,” Shin said in his phone talks with the commanding officer of a new frigate named after the torpedoed warship.

“Protect the Yellow Sea and the NLL that the comrades before you have defended by giving up their lives.”

In turn, Cdr. Park Yeon-soo, the commanding officer, vowed to avenge the sailors of the Cheonan if the enemy undertakes a provocation. Park served on the previous warship and is a survivor of the 2010 attack.

Shin’s call came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last month rejected the NLL as a “ghost” line and called for using force against South Korean vessels violating its waters.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see if the Kim regime tries to see whether or not the ROK government is bluffing on their hardline rhetoric. Kim Jong-un got away with sinking the Cheonan back in 2010 and may think he could get away with such a provocation today as well.

Besides firing shots at the North Korean vessel maybe the ROK Coast Guard needs to start firing shots at these illegal Chinese fishing vessels as well:

A South Korean Navy vessel fired warning shots to drive out a North Korean patrol boat that crossed the western de facto maritime border last week, the South’s military said Sunday.

The North Korean boat crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in waters northeast of South Korea’s Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea on Saturday at 11 a.m., prompting the South Korean Navy to dispatch its Chamsuri-class patrol boat, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

After the North’s boat remained unresponsive to South Korea’s warning broadcasts and communication attempts, the South Korean vessel fired 10 warning shots with its autocannon and made the North Korean boat retreat.

The North Korean boat made the incursion as it was chasing a Chinese fishing boat, according to an informed source.

The JCS said there was contact between the South Korean vessel and the Chinese boat during the operation, and three of the South Korean sailors were sent to a hospital for injuries. One of them is known to have undergone surgery due to a fracture.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this illegal Chinese fishing boat rams a South Korean Coast Guard ship, injures sailors, and it is allowed to get away?

The North Koreans are still trying to get the ROK to cancel the Inter-Korean military agreement signed under the previous Moon administration with their provocations:

North Korea fired some 130 artillery shells into eastern and western maritime “buffer zones” Monday, in what Seoul called a violation of a 2018 bilateral military agreement, amid the South Korea-U.S. live-fire drills in a border region.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that it detected the artillery firings, thought to involve multiple rocket launchers, from Kumgang County in Kangwon Province and Jangsan Cape in South Hwanghae Province, from 2:59 p.m.

The shells splashed into the maritime buffer zones north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de facto sea border, which were set under an inter-Korean military accord signed on Sept. 19, 2018, to reduce border tensions.

The JCS communicated warnings to the North multiple times, pointing out the violation of the military accord and calling for the immediate cessation of the provocation, the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if the ROK was to cancel the agreement the Kim regime could claim this as a “hostile act” as part of a justification for their long anticipated nuclear test.

This is yet another attempt by the North Koreans to try and bait the ROK into canceling the Inter-Korean military agreement. They are going to continue these provocations until they get the reaction they want to justify conducting their long awaited nuclear test:

South and North Korea exchanged warning shots, Monday, accusing each other of border violations in the West Sea, in what is already a period of heightened tension. 

According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), a North Korean merchant ship invaded the Northern Limit Line (NLL) at 3:42 a.m. and the South Korean Navy responded with 20 warning messages and as many warning shots to repel the vessel.

However, nearly one hour after the North Korean ship retreated, the North’s military fired 10 artillery shells into the West Sea, claiming that a South Korean naval ship intruded into North Korean waters ― 2.5 kilometers to five kilometers ― with the excuse that South Korean authorities were cracking down on an unidentified ship when they made the alleged intrusion. (…..)

According to the South Korean JCS, it detected the North’s launch of 10 artillery shells, which started at around 5:14 a.m., in violation of the inter-Korean military agreement, signed in September 2018 to reduce border tensions. The JCS called it a provocation harming peace and stability not only on the peninsula but also in the international community.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It is pretty clear that the Kim regime is daring President Yoon to cancel the Inter-Korean military agreement. If it gets cancelled the Kim regime could use this as an excuse to justify their long awaited nuclear test:

North Korea fired artillery rounds into a buffer zone with South Korea that is designed to reduce tension on the Korean Peninsula, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Wednesday.

The North fired some 100 artillery rounds into the Yellow Sea from around 10 p.m. Tuesday and another 150 rounds into the East Sea from 11 p.m., according to the JCS.

The artillery shells fell into eastern and western buffer zones north of the Northern Limit Line, which were established under a 2018 inter-Korean agreement on reducing military tension.

“Firing artillery shells into the eastern and western buffer zones is a clear violation of the September 19 military agreement, and we strongly urge North Korea to immediately halt its actions as North Korea’s continued provocations are actions that undermine peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the international community,” it said in a released statement.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I don’t think this is going to get much traction considering the control of most of the media the Moon administration has, but I am sure South Korean conservative politicians are enjoying this payback after what former President Park went through:

In response to the controversy over the reporting time to Moon, Kim Chong-in, interim leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), said the incident is a national disaster due to the Moon administration’s lackluster security awareness.

“The Moon administration’s rosy prospects have led to the loss of a precious life of a South Korean citizen,” he said. 

“President Moon needs to explain what he did for three days from Monday.” 

He added that the government may have wanted to hide something from the public by disclosing the incident three days later.

The current situation leaves Moon in a similar situation to that faced by his predecessor in the wake of the Sewol ferry sinking in 2014. While the ferry carrying more than 300 passengers was sinking, the rescue operations were bungled, causing people to speculate on what then-President Park was doing for the first critical seven hours. Many still question the claims of presidential aides that she was receiving updates at her residence.

Rep. Joo Ho-young, the PPP floor leader, said President Moon should have attended the ministerial meeting on early Wednesday morning considering the severity of the incident.

“It is questionable about President Moon’s follow-up measures. It is not comprehensible whether President Moon was unaware of the incident or he ignored it,” Joo said.

Korea Times via a reader tip

You can read more at the link.

Not the best apology, but I guess it is something:

 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has offered an apology to the South Korean people for the killing of a fellow citizen by its military earlier this week, Cheong Wa Dae announced Friday.

In a formal notice sent to the South, the North conveyed Kim’s message that he feels “very sorry” for greatly “disappointing” President Moon Jae-in and other South Koreans with the occurrence of the “unsavory” case in its waters, instead of helping them amid their suffering from the new coronavirus, according to Suh Hoon, director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae.

Yonhap

Notice how he still takes a shot at South Korea as being some kind of coronavirus hotbed. What makes this apology even worse is that they are apparently lying about what happened if you believe what the South Korean military is saying:

South Korean authorities have said the 47-year-old official surnamed Lee went missing at 11:30 a.m., Monday, while on duty on a patrol ship off the west coast, and was found by North Korean military personnel in the sea off Yeonpyeong Island near the maritime border at around 3:30 p.m., Tuesday. 

According to the South Korean version of the story, Lee was on an unidentified floating item and expressed his willingness to defect to the North Koreans, who questioned him from a distance while leaving him in the water. About six hours later, the North Koreans shot him to death, then doused the body with oil and burned it. 

Pyongyang’s account, however, differed in many crucial parts of the story.

In a notice it sent to the South, Friday, the North said an “unidentified man” who illegally intruded into its territorial waters on a floating item failed to properly respond to their verbal security checks when he was about 80 meters away. Approaching the man, the North Koreans shot two blanks, and he was seen as attempting to flee. They then fired more than 10 gunshots at a distance of 40 to 50 meters as allowed under the related rules of maritime border security. 

When they approached for closer inspection, they were unable to find any trace of the body other than a large pool of blood, which led them to believe he had died from bullet wounds and sunk into the water. They subsequently set the floating item ― not the body ― on fire following the quarantine rules, according to the North’s account.

According to the notice, Lee did not express his willingness to defect.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.