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As soon as the Chinese party congress ended, North Korea began to create tension on the Korean Peninsula again.

This time it is the West Sea NLL area.

One North Korean merchant ship invaded the NLL early this morning (24th) and the South Korean military expelled it with warning fire, but North Korea responded with multiple rocket launchers.



Connect with the press.

Reporter Kim Soo-young.



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A North Korean merchant ship violated the Northern Limit Line in the West Sea early this morning and was fired after being warned by the military, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.



The Joint Chiefs of Staff said that at around 3:42 a.m. today, a North Korean merchant ship violated the NLL near Baengnyeong Island, 27 km northwest of the West Sea, and the South Korean military had to evacuate it with warning communications and warning fire.



The military regards the vessel's crossing of the NLL as an 'intrusion' and is investigating the circumstances.



North Korea claimed that the South Korean ship had invaded the Military Demarcation Line in the West Sea.



In a statement by a spokesperson, the North Korean Army's General Staff claimed that a frigate belonging to the South Korean 2nd Fleet violated the maritime military demarcation line in the waters northwest of Baengnyeong Island and fired warning shots this morning under the pretext of cracking down on ships.



The North Korean Army's General Staff said that it instructs the coastal defense units of the Western Front to be thoroughly prepared for monitoring and response, and fired 10 threat warning shots in the direction of 270 degrees of fire defense at 5:15 a.m. this morning.



North Korea, which has been raising tensions with the launch of medium- and short-range missiles and flight demonstrations by air planes, has expanded the range of provocations this time to the NLL area in the West Sea, so there are concerns that there may be additional tension-building actions in the land-based DMZ.