N. Korea Bans Navigation in West Sea

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

A fishing vessel sails past a naval patrol ship in the West Sea early Monday morning as a marine corps soldier stands guard on the beach of an island.

North Korea has recently prohibited vessels from navigating in mid and upper parts of the Yellow Sea, prompting South Korea to monitor the region for possible signs of a provocation, Yonhap News Agency reported Monday, quoting intelligence sources.

North Korea routinely sets up entry-prohibited areas in its western waters for military training purposes, but the latest ban is unusually long in duration, nearly two months until the end of July, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

The authorities "are keeping watch over the region, believing the ban could be a possible sign that there could be a provocation," one of the sources privy to North Korean intelligence was quoted as saying.

South Korea's military is on a heightened alert after the North's May 25 nuclear test and a subsequent series of short-range missile firings over the East Sea.

Pyongyang has also warned of military strikes against South Korean and U.S. naval ships operating along the volatile western sea border, the site of two bloody skirmishes in 1999 and 2002 that claimed scores of lives on the South Korean side and heavier casualties for the North.

The inter-Korean border in the Yellow Sea, considered a powder keg on the peninsula, served as the de facto maritime demarcation line after it was unilaterally drawn by the U.N. Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. North Korea rejects the demarcation and demands it be redrawn further south.

The sources could not confirm exactly when the ban was put in place, whether before or after the North's May 25 nuclear test, only saying it came "recently."

The entry ban is applied to "central and northern parts" of the Yellow Sea, they said.

Sourc

Comments

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

Are they really plotting something or are they trying to make us think they are? Mind games :O

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

It's impossible to say if it's only diversion or if some military higher up in NK wants to improve their position in succession of KJI by engaging in marine battle. They might be of course also planning of smuggling nuclear weapon technology and if caught on border don't want to make China angry by accidentally drowning some Chinese fishing ship that was caught in the middle of battle, however, I imagine that lack of other ships in the area would make it more harder for NK to pass by without SK noticing.

[subpain.livejournal.com]

I think there's a fairly large element of bluffing in play here. I don't doubt that they can do something brash if they were provoked, or it became necessary, but I really strongly think that they are simply doing this in order to gain more bargaining power on an international level. They haven't been taken seriously and it's almost like that bullying mentality where they feel like they need to lash out to be taken seriously.

Idek but that's what I think; it's saber rattling.

[midori-estel.livejournal.com]

oh wow. Seriously..why do this.
Can't they calm down already.

[ashiva.livejournal.com]

LOL

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

Their engines are powered with love.

[shanny-w.livejournal.com]

~*hate is just love with its back turned*~

[aici-rua.livejournal.com]

This is so confusing

[deazaskia.livejournal.com]

sneaky NK. :/

[hater-traitor.livejournal.com]

Let's not, NK. Let's not.

[charzzy.livejournal.com]

my parents will probably force me to cancel my tickets for my seoul trip which is like in 2 weeks.

just stop your nonsense already NK!!!!!!!!

[honeebs.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness... I do not like being uninformed. The news will only TELL us so much with being SK allie this is worrisome. We are READY and can do both. I'm feeling (black hawk down) kinda stuff and with all this in the past 2 weeks i know stuff has been known for a while.

[uchilove.livejournal.com]

WTF ARE THEY TRYING TO DO SERIOUSLY