North Korea’s supreme leader has drawn a red line at sea and vowed to open fire on South Korean ships that barely cross it.
Kim Jong Un reportedly attended a test launch of a new surface-to-air missile on Wednesday and instructed military officials to prepare for future attacks on South Korean ships entering North Korean territorial waters.
According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the supreme leader “stressed the need for North Korea to thoroughly protect its maritime sovereignty, not through any fancy words, statements, or announcements, but through force and action.”
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This photo released by the Korean Central News Agency earlier this year shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un participating in a submarine-launched cruise missile test at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Korea Central News Agency, via Reuters)
DPRK is an abbreviation for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and is the official name of the North Korean state.
The Korean Central News Agency said, “The president has given important instructions to strengthen military preparations, especially in the northern border waters of Yeonhyeong-do and Baekryong-do, where enemy military vessels such as destroyers, escort ships, and high-speed ships frequently intrude. It was released.”
The Northern Limit Line (NLL) is an internationally recognized maritime boundary dividing North and South Korea by sea, and this standard demarcation line has been challenged by the Kim Jong Un regime in the past.
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The exact parameters of the red line in the supreme leader’s threats are somewhat difficult to understand, as Kim Jong-un has frequently claimed that North Korea’s maritime zones extend further south of the NLL, further destabilizing the situation. I have to.
“What is clear is that if an enemy invades our recognized maritime borders, we will consider it a violation of North Korea’s sovereignty and an armed provocation against North Korea,” the dictator said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends the 19th Enlarged Political Bureau meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea. This image was released by the Korean Central News Agency. (KCNA, via Reuters)
The threat adds to Kim Jong Un’s increasingly specific threats against South Korean officials, military and civilians following the rekindling of hostilities.
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In January, the dictator told government officials: “Our southern border is clearly delineated, and we will never tolerate illegal NLL or other demarcation lines. “If there was even a millimeter violation,” he said. It is considered warmongering on land, air, and sea. ”
This year, North Korea has continued its routine of launching missiles into the waters between itself, its southern partners, and the Japanese archipelago.
