North Korea threatened South Korean ships with possible attack by designating a firing zone along their disputed sea border Monday, raising tensions in an area where a brief but deadly clash erupted last month.The western maritime boundary has long been considered a flash point between the two Koreas because the North does not recognize a line the United Nations unilaterally drew at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Pyongyang claims the actual border is further south.
The dispute led to deadly skirmishes in 1999, 2002 and on Nov. 10. In the latest clash, ships from the two sides exchanged fire in the disputed waters, leaving one North Korean sailor dead and three others wounded, according to the South.
On Monday, North Korea designated what it claimed are its territorial waters in the disputed area a "peacetime naval firing zone of coastal and island artillery units." That apparently means that artillery shells could land in the waters at any time.
Analysts said the move was designed to show the continuing instability on the Korean peninsula, as the U.S. and other nations press the North to resume talks on its nuclear program, and as the North pushes for a formal peace treaty to replace the truce that ended the Korean War.