SEOUL, Oct. 26 (UPI) — North Korea warned that North-South relations could return to a state of hostility after the South Korean navy fired shots at a North Korean vessel that had crossed a disputed maritime border.
A spokesman for Pyongyang’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said Sunday on KCNA, “South Korea’s warmongering military launched a provocation at [North Korean] patrol boats conducting regular maritime missions, while fulminating about [North Korean advancement] toward the Northern Limit Line.”
Yonhap reported the spokesman said the act “carried out openly in broad daylight was a deliberate provocation that could once again aggravate the situation caused by military conflict in the Yellow Sea.”
North Korea has been linked to the 2010 sinking of the South Korean ship Cheonan in the waters, which killed 46 South Korean seamen.
On Sunday, North Korea denounced South Korea’s military for bringing a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Korea’s coast, a reference to the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier USS Ronald Reagan. The carrier had taken part in a South Korean naval parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Korean independence.
Pyongyang also blamed Seoul for ruining the atmosphere of improving North-South relations while referring to the North-South family reunions that were taking place on Saturday, and said, “This incident carefully shows the culprit behind the destruction of peace and escalation of tensions that tampers with North-South relations.
“The warmongering South Korean military has not given up the habit of fabricating events, and if it continues to engage in reckless military confrontation, an unpredictable conflict could take place and return North-South relations to the state of tensions prior to the August agreement.”
On Aug. 25, Seoul and Pyongyang reached a landmark deal to defuse tensions at the border after the explosion of landmines inside the demilitarized zone that injured two South Korean soldiers.
North Korea condemned the South the same day it commemorated its friendship with China on the 65th anniversary of Chinese military involvement in the Korean War. Pyongyang said the two countries fought against an “imperialist coalition” during the 1950-53 Korean War.
The two countries are improving ties, after a top Chinese official visited with Kim Jong Un on Oct. 10.
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