Category: DMZ

For those stationed in Korea that have not been able to take this tour yet because of COVID, you may soon have your chance:

 Tours to the truce village that straddles the border with North Korea, which have been suspended for about a year due to concerns about African swine fever and the coronavirus, may resume soon, the U.S.-led United Nations Command said Monday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

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.

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.

I wonder if this guy had an accident and fell overboard?:

A South Korean fisheries control official went missing while on duty aboard an inspection boat off the western border island of Yeonpyeong earlier this week, and authorities are looking into intelligence that he could be alive in North Korea, officials said.

The 47-year-old official affiliated with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries disappeared from the 500-ton boat before noon Monday when it was patrolling around 10 kilometers south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto inter-Korean maritime border.

Colleagues only found his shoes on the vessel and reported his disappearance to the Coast Guard, prompting an intensive search operation involving about 20 vessels and aircraft.

“According to our military intelligence, he was found in North Korean waters late Tuesday, and we are looking into details,” the ministry said in a statement. “We will take necessary steps, including investigating how he went missing and checking related facts with North Korea.”

It was not immediately known if he was found alive or not, but military sources said there is a chance he is alive.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.