South Korean coast guard's patrol vessel (Photo by=Korean Internet/Navyrecognition Website) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] North Korea warned South Korea on Sunday to stop violating its western sea border in searching for the body of a citizen shot and killed in North Korean waters, saying it will search for the body on its own and hand it over if it's found.
South Korea has searched for the body of the 47-year-old fisheries official shot and killed by North Korean soldiers earlier last week after he drifted into their waters near the Yellow Sea border between the two sides. South Korea claims the North shot him to death and burned the body, while the North claims it was lost in the sea after he was shot.
"According to a report by the western fleet of our navy, the south side has mobilized many vessels including warships to an action presumed to be a search operation and let them intrude into our territorial waters since September 25. It arouses our due vigilance as it may lead to another awful incident," the Korean Central News Agency said. The North's warning was the latest reminder of its denial of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a from the fact inter-Korean sea boundary. Pyongyang has long disputed the NLL, turning the front-line waters into a major flash point of the peninsula.