Tag: Northern Limit Line

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.

This is something I had been wondering about because if the fishery official was floating in the water for six hours before being shot by the North Koreans, why didn’t anyone try to rescue him?:

South Korea’s defense ministry said Wednesday there were no such words as “shoot to kill or fire” in the military’s initial intelligence on North Korea’s killing of a South Korean fisheries official in the West Sea. 

The ministry also expressed regret over some reports that said the South’s military took no action despite hearing the North’s order to kill the official. 

“What happened during the incident in which (the North) shot (the South Korean fisheries official) and burned (his body) was determined after a considerable lapse of time by analyzing pieces of intelligence,” the ministry said. 

It also said the military did not know all of the facts of the incident in real time. 

In line with the ministry’s remarks, the South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae denied the reports that the government had full awareness of the situation but did not suitably respond to it.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this leads me to believe that the ROK military must have cameras and listening devices placed in certain areas or unmanned aerial reconnaissance that they can download as needed to view imagery from in that area.

North Korea after giving a rare apology is now back to normal warning the ROK to stop violating the NLL. This is standard stuff for the North Koreans who have their own version of the NLL you can see below in Red:

North Korea warned the South on Sunday to stop violating the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto inter-Korean maritime border in the Yellow Sea, as the search continues for the body of a South Korean fisheries official shot last Tuesday.    
   
South Korea’s Navy and Coast Guard however said that they have been searching for the body of the 47-year-old official surnamed Lee — who was shot and killed by North Korean soldiers last Tuesday after he mysteriously went missing the previous day — in waters south of the NLL.    
   
Pyongyang’s warning came two days after an apology from North Korea Friday claiming that the man’s body had been lost at sea after he was shot, rather than burned, as initially reported by the South’s military.    
   
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported in an English-language dispatch Sunday, “We can never overlook any intrusion into our territorial waters and we seriously warn the south side against it.”  
   
The North urged South Korean authorities to “immediately halt the intrusion across the military demarcation line in the west sea that may lead to escalation of tensions.”    
   
The North may be referring to the West Sea military demarcation line (MDL), a line south of the NLL in the Yellow Sea that Pyongyang unilaterally declared in 1999. North Korean has long disputed the NLL, which was set by the United Nations Command (UNC) in 1953 after the three-year Korean War ended in a ceasefire. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

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.

Just think the Korean left will probably still advocate for opening the Kumgang Resort in North Korea even after this latest travesty:

 North Korea shot and killed a South Korean official drifting at sea before dousing his body with oil and setting it on fire, the defense ministry said Thursday, prompting the country to erupt in outrage and casting a pall over the already frayed inter-Korean ties.

The 47-year-old official affiliated with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries disappeared from the 499-ton boat before noon Monday while on duty aboard an inspection boat in waters off the western border island of Yeonpyeong.

“North Korea found the man in its waters and committed an act of brutality by shooting at him and burning his body, according to our military’s thorough analysis of diverse intelligence,” the defense ministry said in a statement.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but one theory is that the fisheries official was trying to defect and the North Koreans shot and killed him then burned the body to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Am I supposed to be excited because North Korea closed a couple of doors?

The entrances (circled) of artillery positions on North Korea’s Jangjae Island bordering South Korea in the West Sea is seen closed on Oct. 31, 2018, one day ahead of the implementation of the Sept. 19 inter-Korean military agreements, in which the two sides agreed to set a maritime buffer zone spanning around 80 km in the East and West Seas to prevent unintended naval clashes. (Yonhap)

This is just another example of an easily reversible so called concession by the North Koreans.  They can just open the door and use their artillery when ever they want.  Why doesn’t Seoul have them remove the artillery as well as their silkworm missiles and confirm it with an inspection?  That would create a real buffer zone instead of the pretend one the Moon administration is agreeing to.

By the way the below graphic provides a breakdown of North Korea’s artillery and missile positions in the Yellow Sea:

Here is another indication that the Moon administration is getting played by the Kim regime over the NLL issue:

Touching on the controversy over the North’s position on the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de-facto sea border with the South, Jeong said that working-level North Korean officials have yet to accept the NLL as the maritime border, despite leader Kim Jong-un’s apparent recognition of it.

In April, the leaders of the two sides agreed to turn the tense area into a “maritime peace zone.” They used the term “NLL” in their joint statement.

President Moon Jae-in said it indicates that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has virtually recognized the NLL.

The North’s navy, however, had continued to claim its own security line until recently, sending repeated warning messages to South Korean ships crossing it.

That appears to be because North Korea’s front-line troops have not received any new related instructions from Kim, Jeong said.

He added that the North’s working-level officials have not yet agreed to accept the NLL.

Gen. Park Han-ki, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the South urged the North not to take issue with the NLL during the bilateral general-grade talks last week.

“(We) clearly told (the North) to stop sending such inappropriate radio messages,” he said.  [Yonhap]

Kim Jong-un of courses recognizes the NLL, what he recognizes is his definition of the NLL.

If you have been reading the ROK Drop this news should come as no surprise:

Pyongyang’s version of a military pact signed by both Koreas last month mentions the northern limit line (NLL) in angle quotes, which may mean it doesn’t acknowledge the maritime border between the two Koreas in the Yellow Sea.

Seoul’s version doesn’t place any punctuation marks around the same words.

A lawmaker from the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) exclusively revealed the North’s version of the agreement to the JoongAng Ilbo on Thursday. Former South Korean National Defense Minister Song Young-moo signed the military pact with his North Korean counterpart, No Kwang-chol, on Sept. 19 during the third inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang.

If the North had indeed refused to acknowledge the NLL in September, it would contradict remarks made by South Korean President Moon Jae-in earlier this month.

The Blue House chief said on Oct. 11 that the North acknowledged the NLL in the latest summit. Both Koreas agreed to create a so-called peace zone around the area to prevent possible military clashes and establish a joint fishing zone, he said.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but Moon’s maritime peace zone that the Kim regime is so happy to sign an agreement on will surrender sovereignty of the NLL to the North Koreans by allowing joint fishing along the maritime border.  This plan actually dates back an entire decade to the Roh Moo-hyun administration when Moon Jae-in was President Roh’s Chief of Staff.  This map shows why the North Koreans are happy with the is arrangement:

The current NLL is depicted with the Blue line and North Korea’s claimed NLL is depicted with the Red line.

Moon’s peace zone would allow the North Korean boats to pass the current NLL to nearly the red line the North Koreans claim.  The giving up of sovereignty of this maritime territory will make it harder to defend the South Korean islands along the NLL.  Such an agreement would also set a precedent that the Kim regime’s claim against the legitimacy of the NLL is valid.  The last time a South Korean leftist government tried to give away the NLL the ROK Defense Ministry was furious.  That is likely why the Moon administration cleaned house at the Ministry of Defense before moving forward with this plan.

South Korea has made all these concessions to weaken their defenses against a North Korean attack and the Kim regime has yet to move one artillery battery away from the DMZ in return.