South Korean forces to pay dearly for armed provocation - KCNA.

13/11 Tass 99

PYONGYANG, November 13 (Itar-Tass) - North Korea will take tough
military measures to protect its territorial waters in the Yellow Sea,
said a statement of the North Korean military leadership circulated by the
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) following an incident in which naval
vessels of two Koreas exchanged fire on November 10.

"The South Korean forces will be forced to pay dearly for the grave
armed provocation perpetrated by them in the waters of the north side of
the West Sea of Korea on November 10," the agency said quoting newspaper
commentaries.
It said Seoul had received a notification in connection with the armed
clash of naval vessels of the two countries in the Yellow Sea on Tuesday.
The incident happened in the area of the Northern Limit Line, which is
a de-facto border between the two Koreas in the Yellow Sea. The line was
unilaterally set by the U.S.-led United Nations military forces in August
1953 after the Korean war of 1950-1953. Pyongyang does not officially
recognize it. It insists on moving the border to the north, to the level
of the military demarcation line dividing the Korean peninsula into two
states.
A statement of a North Korean military official said that there is
only one military demarcation line at sea determined by North Korea. "And
since now we shall take touigh military measures to protect it," he said.
According to Pyongyang, on November 10 several South Korean warships
opened fire on a patrol boat of North Korean Navy, which was returning to
the port after performing a mission to confirm an unidentified object that
had intruded into the North Korean territorial waters.
It said combatant craft of South Korea turned back only after the
North Korean boat had dealt "a prompt retaliatory blow at the provokers".
North Korea does not give information on losses on its side. Earlier
Pyongyang demanded from Seoul official apologies in connection with the
incident, and said it must "take a responsible measure against the
recurrence of the similar case".
-0-zhe/ast