DPRK accuses South Korean navy of invading territories, firing at unarmed ferryboat

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday accused the South Korean navy of intruding into DPRK water territories and firing rocket gun shells at its ferryboat.

Three speedboats and a vessel from South Korea sailed 6.4 km across the Maritime Demarcation Line in sea waters into the DPRK waters four times and refused to return, the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army of the DPRK said in a report.

The South Korean navy then fired several rocket gun shells against an unarmed ferryboat of the DPRK, which was pulling a wrecked boat in the waters under the control of the DPRK side, the report said.

The report called the event "a reckless military provocation," adding that "the situation in those waters is inching to the unpredictable extreme phase."

Earlier, South Korean media quoted the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) as saying that a patrol boat and a fishing boat from the DPRK returned to the north after crossing the Northern Limit Line after the South Korean military fired warning shots.

The Northern Limit Line, or NLL, is a disputed maritime demarcation line in the Yellow Sea between the DPRK and South Korea. As the DPRK has never officially recognized the NLL, the navies of the two countries patrol the area regularly. Endi