North Korea threatens South Korean naval boats entering disputed waters

SEOUL, May 8 (UPI) -- North Korea on Friday claimed South Korean naval boats had violated North Korea's demarcation line.

North Korea's state-controlled media outlet KCNA claimed South Korean naval boats in the Yellow Sea had repeatedly entered territorial waters belonging to North Korea, Yonhap reported.

North Korea will fire at future trespassers, stated KCNA, adding the warning was authorized by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

It was unclear Friday whether the violation that KCNA pointed out was referring to the Northern Limit Line or another demarcation line.

North Korea disputes the NLL that sets water boundaries for North and South Korea.

North Korea has stated in the past the NLL violates the Korean armistice agreement and U.S., South Korean insistence on the line is justification for potential provocation.

In 2009, North Korea extended a "peacetime firing zone" to waters south of the boundary, and on Friday the reclusive country claimed 17 boats of the "South Korean puppet navy" had violated North Korean sovereignty two to three times a day from May 1 to May 7. Another five South Korean boats were illegally crossing into North Korean waters since April 26, KCNA claimed.

Bloomberg reported the North Korean warning comes after the conclusion of U.S.-South Korea joint exercises on April 24, believed to have lifted some of the tensions.

But the waters of the Yellow Sea have been the center of North-South tension in recent years.

Warning shots were exchanged between North and South Korea near the NLL in October, and Seoul and Pyongyang have faced casualties from the brief skirmishes that have taken place since 1999 near the NLL.