South and North Korean ships exchanged warning shots near a disputed maritime border on Tuesday, highlighting the countries’ volatile relationship just three days after a high-level meeting raised hopes of a thaw.
Seoul’s defence ministry said that a North Korean naval vessel had strayed on Tuesday morning half a nautical mile over the Northern Limit Line – a border set down by the US-led UN force at the end of the Korean war, which has never been accepted by Pyongyang.
A South Korean ship fired heavy machinegun rounds as a warning, and the North Korean ship returned warning fire before retreating, having spent about 10 minutes south of the NLL.