TOKYO (Sputnik) – Yonhap cited North Korea’s state news agency (Central News Agency, or KCNA) as saying on Thursday that South Korea's reconnaissance drones flew over the maritime border (Northern Limit Line) in the Yellow Sea and into North Korean airspace to carry out aerial reconnaissance on Tuesday.
KCNA also said that a South Korean Navy patrol boat and four fishing boats crossed into North Korea’s territorial waters five times on Tuesday.
North Korea threatened to counteract to what it labeled as Seoul’s "military provocation," Yonhap said.
In May, North Korea warned that it would open fire at any South Korean warships that trespass the maritime border following an incident involving North Korean patrol and fishing vessels.
The South Korean Navy fired warning shots at North Korea’s fishing boat and patrol boat as they trespassed across the maritime border in the Yellow Sea. According to the South Korean military, the North Korean vessels returned to the northern side immediately after the warning shots were fired.
Pyongyang’s January hydrogen bomb test, as well as the launch, a month later, of a long-range rocket to allegedly place a satellite into orbit, in defiance of UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, led to a spike in tensions with Seoul and more sanctions having been imposed on North Korea by the UNSC and the United States.
South and North Korea are still formally at war, as no peace treaty was ever signed after the Korean War of 1950-1953.
