Home   >   News   >   Korea   >   S. Korea’s navy fires at Chinese ship in Yellow Sea

S. Korea’s navy fires at Chinese ship in Yellow Sea

December 8, 2015
Guarded by South Korean naval ships, fishing boats operate. (Yonhap)

Guarded by South Korean naval ships, fishing boats operate. (Yonhap)

By Brian Han

The Yellow Sea generates a lot of tension among the countries it borders.

So it shouldn’t come as a big surprise when the South Korean Navy fired warning shots on Tuesday at an unauthorized ship that had crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) — a  maritime border between the two Koreas.

But it wasn’t a North Korean ship pushing its limits. Instead, a Chinese patrol boat reportedly ventured a bit too far during an investigation on illegal fishing.

At the time, South Korean Navy personnel could not identify the origin of the ship, so as a precaution, ten rounds were fired.

“The vessel retreated northward as we fired off warning shots at it after repeatedly issuing warning messages,” it said in a press release according to Yonhap News.

The two Koreas are technically still at war dating back to the Korean War in the 1950s.

“The Navy has beefed up its surveillance near the NLL,” a Coast Guard representative said.