South Korea Fires at North Korean Ship in Disputed Waters

October 25, 2015 10:36 PM EDT

The South Korean navy fired shots at a North Korean vessel that crossed the disputed maritime border separating the two rival states on Saturday afternoon, Reuters reported.

Authorities in Pyongyang said the boat was conducting a “routine” exercise when it entered the waters that Seoul claims as its own. The ship retreated without retaliation after the five shots were fired, but Pyongyang called the incident a “serious provocation.”

North Korea has refused to acknowledge the maritime boundaries in the Yellow Sea established by the Northern Limit Line, a border drafted after the Korean War.

“There will be only a war disaster, far from the improvement of the North-South relations, as long as the South Korean military warmongers go reckless,” a North Korean spokesperson told state media.

Though reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has expressed a rare willingness to engage in diplomatic dialogue with the country’s southern neighbor, tensions between the two have flared in recent months after a string of minor military confrontations in August. Two weeks after a mine blast injured two South Korean soldiers in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), North Korea responded to the South’s ensuing propaganda campaign by firing an artillery shell at the border city of Yeoncheon. A tacit cease-fire agreement followed, as well as a slew of family reunions last week.

Take an Inside Look at North Korea

Aug. 26, 2011. A North Korean woman looks down at the city of Pyongyang from the top of the Tower of the Juche Idea.David Guttenfelder—AP

Journey into North Korea — April 12, 2011. Central Pyongyang at dusk through a hotel room window.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea — Jan. 16, 2012. Light shines through a window on to a tank filled with goldfish inside an office at the Korean Central News Agency building in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX NORTH KOREA — Feb. 26, 2008. North Korean commuters are seen riding a bus in central Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Daily Life — Feb. 12, 2012. A North Korean man rides a bike along the banks of the Pothong River in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Kim Il Sung Birthday — April 14, 2011. North Koreans pay their respects before a monument of Kim Il-Sung at Mansu Hill in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Building On the Past — Oct. 11, 2011. North Korean construction workers labor in the Mansudae area of Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Daily Life — April 3, 2012. A North Korean student learns to drive a tractor on a computerized driving simulator at the Samjiyon Schoolchildren's Palace in Samjiyon, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Kim Jong Il Making the Myth — Oct. 9, 2011. A man walks past a building in Pyongyang where a picture of North Korea's late leader Kim Il-Sung hangs on its outer wall.David Guttenfelder—AP

YE North Korea — March 10, 2011. Children look through a subway car window in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Rocket Launch — April 8, 2012. A North Korean soldier stands at a check point seen from a train heading to North Phyongan Province, about 50 kilometers (35 miles) south of the border town of Sinuiju along North Korea's west coast.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Kim Il Sung Birthday — April 13, 2011. North Korean soldiers tour the grounds of the birthplace of the late President Kim Il-Sung at Mangyongdae, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Mount Paektu — April 2, 2012. The hoof of a deer used as a door handle hangs on the door of the small cabin that is said to have been the home of the late North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung, and the birthplace of his son and late leader Kim Jong-Il at what was a secret military camp during the fight against the Japanese at the foot of Mount Paektu, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Mount Paektu — April 4, 2012. a North Korean soldier working as a guide walks through a forest at the foot of Mount Paektu, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Feeding the People — April 17, 2011. People work in a field outside of Kaesong, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Hunger — Oct. 8, 2011. A North Korean man rests near a farm field along a highway outside the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Mobile Phones — Feb. 26, 2008. A North Korean woman peers out of an elevator while speaking on an in-house phone at a library in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea NY Philharmonic — Feb. 26, 2008. North Korean ushers peer into the concert hall before the start of a performance by the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea NY Philharmonic — Feb. 26, 2008. North Koreans look through the performance program before the start of a concert by the New York Philharmonic in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea in Autumn — Oct. 11, 2011. North Korean soccer fans react after their team missed a goal during a World Cup qualifying match between North Korea and Uzbekistan, in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

Sept. 16, 2008. A guide gives a lecture in front of a diorama showing the Korean War's 1950 battle of Taejon as she gives a tour of the War Museum in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Venerating Kim — Feb. 14, 2012. A North Korean stands at attention as others cheer during the unveiling of a new bronze statue depicting the late leader Kim Jong-Il and his father Kim Il-Sung at Mansudae Art Studio in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Lost in Pyongyang — April 12, 2012. North Korean residents of the capital city mingle on the side of the street in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Rocket Launch — April 8, 2012. A group of journalists walk down a road in front of North Korea's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff at Sohae Satellite Station.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Portraits — April 17, 2012. A man and a boy pose for a picture in front of portraits of the late leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il at a festival for the "Kimilsungia" flower to mark 100 years since the birth of North Korea's late leader in Pyongyang.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Forgotten Cities — Aug. 8, 2012. A woman rides a roller coaster at a newly-built amusement park in Pyongyang, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Pyongyang Marathon — April 14, 2013. Runners rest inside Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang. North Korea hosted the 26th Mangyongdae Prize Marathon to mark the upcoming birthday of the late leader Kim Il Sung.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Koreas Tension — April 15, 2013. A North Korean child covers the eyes of her father as she sits on his shoulders watching mass folk dancing in front of Pyongyang Indoor Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

North Korea Military — April 25, 2013. North Korean soldiers and civilians stand on a foot bridge to look at goldfish in a moat as they tour the grounds of Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum where the bodies of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie embalmed, in Pyongyang, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

APTOPIX North Korea Military — April 25, 2013. North Korean soldiers and civilians pose for souvenir photos in front of a fountain as they tour the grounds of Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum where the bodies of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie embalmed, in Pyongyang, North Korea.David Guttenfelder—AP

South Korea Fires Shots at North Korean Ship in Disputed Waters

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