In this June 15, 2009 photo, South Korean Navy patrol boats engage in an exercise in the West Sea, South Korea. Navy ships of the two Koreas exchanged fire on Tuesday along their disputed western sea border, a South Korean military officer said. -- PHOTO: APSEOUL - THE two Koreas had a brief naval skirmish in Yellow Sea waters on Tuesday, but there were no casualties in the incident that came just ahead of a visit to Asia by US President Barack Obama, Yonhap news agency reported.
North Korea, which has a habit of increasing tension prior to major regional diplomatic events, has been seeking direct talks with the Obama administration while riling the global powers by last week saying it had produced more arms-grade plutonium.
'A North Korean patrol ship crossed the Northern Limit Line and did not cease when we fired warning shots,' Yonhap cited a South Korean defence source as saying. The North's vessel then fired back, the source said. It appears the North's vessel was hit by the South in the firefight.
The two Koreas have fought two deadly naval battles in the past decade in the Yellow Sea waters near the contested sea border called the Northern Limit Line, which was set unilaterally by US-led UN forces at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The North has said it sees the border as invalid. The South Korean won briefly retreated on the news. There was no noticeable impact on bonds while foreign investors kept up their buying spree of local equities.
'North Korea is taking this aggressive stance to show they're not backing down their security,' said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the South's University of North Korean Studies. -- REUTERS
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