North Korea has warned that it will strike without notice at South Korean naval vessels that intrude into its territorial waters near the disputed border in the Yellow Sea.
The warning, carried Friday by the official Korean Central News Agency, alleged that 17 South Korean speed boats had intruded into the North's territorial waters in the first week of this month under the pretext of intercepting Chinese fishing boats.
South Korea's Defense Ministry had no immediate comment on the warning.
The Northern Limit Line of the Korean Peninsula's west coast was drawn up by U.S.-led forces after the Korean War. It has been the site of short but bloody naval clashes between the two Koreas in 1999, 2002 and 2009.