The South Korean military reported that they fired warning shots at a North Korean merchant ship on Wednesday when it crossed the disputed maritime border off the country’s west coast, forcing the ship to flee.
The ship in question, which was not identified, was believed to have crossed into disputed waters because of a combination of bad weather and engine problems. It did, however, manage to flee back to North Korea.
Still, firing warning shots at a ship in distress at all probably isn’t idea for South Korea to have done, even if no further incidents came of it. South Korea’s military wants to strictly control the maritime border, but this was a decidedly unfriendly act.
North Korea has not responded so far, and as far as they are officially concerned, the ship was always in their waters, meaning the incident is almost certain to be condemned as a needless provocation by the south.
South Korea Fires Warning Shots at North Korean Merchant Ship
Ship believed to cross disputed border over bad weather
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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