Expanded search for attacked officials... "I have never passed NLL"

The maritime police went on an intensive search by dividing the sea near Yeonpyeong Island into eight zones to find the bodies and belongings of civil servants who disappeared from the coast of Soyeonpyeong Island at the northern end of the West Sea and died after being shot in North Korea.

The search range is from the west of Yeonpyeongdo Island to the south of Socheongdo Island in a'V' shape of 96㎞ horizontally and 18.5㎞ vertical.

In the search, a total of 39 ships, including 29 ships from the Coast Guard and the Navy, and 10 fishing guidance ships, and 6 aircraft were put into force.

This is an expanded scale compared to 36 ships and 5 aircraft, including 12 naval patrol ships, 16 naval ships, and 8 fishing guidance ships that were put into the search yesterday (26th).

The coast guard is searching for the possibility that Mr. A's body or belongings may float to the southern area of ​​the West Sea's Northern Limit Line (NLL), but no significant discovery has been made so far this afternoon.

It is believed that there is a possibility that belongings etc. may have flowed out of the search range due to the influence of the current, and other maritime guard ships are also conducting search activities.

North Korea has warned that the South is invading the territorial waters of the North in the course of a search operation and to stop.

However, a maritime police official said, "The search is conducted only in the south of the NLL," and said, "Today, we continue to search by increasing the number of ships and personnel."

A military official also said, "Our military is currently conducting maritime search activities normally," and said, "Since there are dozens of Chinese ships operating near the NLL, we are also working to control them."

This translates to the fact that military authorities are on a mission in the southern waters of the West Sea NLL.

The Coast Guard, which is investigating the actions of Mr. A before his disappearance along with a maritime search, requested data on the situation of Mr. A's defection to North Korea on the 25th, but has yet to receive an answer as to whether or not to provide the relevant information.