S. Korea navy fires warning shots
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The North Korean envoy has arrived in China for multilateral talks over its nuclear program.
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SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- The South Korean navy has fired warning shots in the direction of a North Korean patrol boat that crossed the disputed border off the western coastline of the divided peninsula.
The incident took place around 7 a.m. (6 p.m. EDT Monday) in the West Sea when a North Korean patrol boat crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) boundary, according to a spokesman for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Joint Chiefs spokesman said South Korea broadcast a warning message to the ship from the North, before firing two warning shots.
The North Korea patrol boat returned to its own territorial waters about three minutes later. There were no reports of casualties.
The spokesman said this is the third time in 2003 that a North Korean patrol boat has entered South Korea's water.
The North Korean patrol boat may have been chasing Chinese fishing boats from its territorial water when it crossed south of the border, the spokesman speculated. About 400 Chinese boats were known to be fishing the waters off the peninsula.
The incident came just a day ahead of the start of key six-way talks on the standoff over North Korea's nuclear program in Beijing, including representatives from the United States, North Korea, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia. (Full story)
