SEA WARS
WAR AND PEACE: Children play
in front of a tank on the island of
Baengnyeong, which lies on the
South Korean side of the Northern
Limit Line. REUTERS/DAMIR SAGOLJ
The two Koreas have been technically at war for over 60 years.
Nowhere is that more true than on their disputed sea boundary.
The Korean war
that never ends
BY JAMES PEARSON AND JU-MIN PARK
INSIGHT 1
SEA WARS THE KOREAN WAR THAT NEVER ENDS
YEONPYEONG ISLAND, SOUTH KOREA, JUNE 17
O
n a clear day, residents of Yeonpyeong
Island can see North Korea, 10 kms
(six miles) away. They can also sometimes watch South Korean warships chase
North Korean and Chinese fishing boats.
These waters in the Yellow Sea are among
the world’s richest for blue crab.
Lately, however, North Korea has been
making life riskier for residents of this fishing community. On May 22, they were ordered into bomb shelters after the North
fired artillery shells around the island, without hitting anything. Earlier that week, the
South Korean navy fired 10 warning shots
at North Korean ships after they crossed the
maritime boundary between the two sides.
The line was drawn up unilaterally by
the U.S.-led United Nations command after the 1950-53 Korean War. That conflict
ended in an armed truce that has continued
until now, leaving the two Koreas in a technical state of war.
Tensions are especially high along the
string of five South Korean islands that
define the maritime frontier, known as the
“Northern Limit Line” (NLL). Lately, the
area has seen a sharp increase in artillery
exchanges between the two Koreas.
North Korea doesn’t recognise the NLL.
The line is not recognised internationally,
either. North Korea warships and fishing
boats routinely sail over the line, which
commands strategic sea lanes into the industrial heartland of both Koreas. This has
led to a spate of sea battles and artillery exchanges over the last 15 years.
The movements of foreign media are
restricted on the militarily sensitive islands.
A recent Reuters visit found the chase
scenes between the South Korean navy and
Chinese fishing boats are practically a daily
occurrence. The North Korean military
has been making money for years selling
Chinese ships the rights to fish in the area,
the South Korean coast guard and local officials on the island say.
TOURISM HOPES: Residents of the islands that form the sea border between the two Koreas hold out
hope for attracting adventure tourists, despite the increasing frequency of artillery duels between the
two sides. REUTERS/DAMIR SAGOLJ.
The disputed maritime frontier, the economic and strategic importance of the area,
and a history of violent confrontations have
made these otherwise sleepy islands one
of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints
- one that could drag in the United States
and China as parties to the armistice.
“The West Sea boundary is the weakest
link in the chain that holds the two Koreas
from outright conflict, and the regular appearance of a third party-- Chinese fishermen-- adds a destabilising element into an already volatile mix,” said John Delury, assistant
REUTERS TV
See the video:
http://link.reuters.com/guw99v
professor at Yonsei University in Seoul.
Delury added that “the dangers of entangling the U.S. and China are also very
real, at a time when they already have
enough maritime disputes to worry about
in the East and South China Seas.”
A FRAUGHT HISTORY
The Korean War ended roughly where it
started - near the 38th parallel. The armistice of Aug. 30, 1953, stipulated that both
sides withdraw their forces two kilometres
from there to form a Demilitarized Zone
(DMZ). It remains the world’s most heavily-fortified frontier.
Extending the line out to the Yellow Sea
was far more problematic due to the jagged
coastline and a sprawl of islands and islets,
and the two sides failed to agree on one.
So a month after the armistice was signed,
United Nations Commander Mark Clark,
a U.S. four-star general, drew a line in the
sea to keep southern warships from straying too far north and to reduce the likelihood of sea clashes.
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SEA WARS THE KOREAN WAR THAT NEVER ENDS
Crossing the line
The Northern Limit Line, drawn up by the U.S.-led United Nations in 1953, is one of the most serious
flashpoints for conflict on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea warships and fishing boats routinely sail
over the line, which has led to a spate of sea battles and artillery exchanges over the last 15 years.
Northern Limit Line (NLL)
Demilitarised Zone (DMZ)
Fishing limit line
Fishing control line
Pyongyang
Yellow Sea
Baegnyeong
Island
Sea of Japan
(East Sea)
NORTH KOREA
Haeju
Kaesong
Industrial
Region
SOUTH KOREA
Seoul
Disputed
territory*
Yeonpyeong
Island
Sources: Harvard University; Reuters.
The South Koreans have always regarded
the NLL as a seaward extension of the DMZ
and a de facto boundary between North and
South Korea. “The NLL, however, has no legal basis in international law,” according to a
CIA document declassified in 1974.
A U.S. embassy spokeswoman in Seoul
did not directly address the question of
the line’s international legality when asked
for comment. “For 60 years, the Northern
Limit Line has served as a practical measure to separate military forces in the Yellow
Sea and to reduce tensions and the risks of
20 miles
20 km
* North Korean maritime claim.
military confrontation,” she said.
North Korea, however, has long declared
a 12-nautical mile territorial sea limit in the
area - one that includes the five islands. In
recent years, it has been more forceful about
that claim.
In June 1999 and June 2002, clashes between North and South Korean warships
erupted at the start of the crab fishing season. A South Korean patrol boat sank and a
North Korean boat was heavily damaged in
the 2002 incident.
After that, the two sides began talking
about joint fishing areas in a “West Coast
Peace Zone”, which was eventually agreed
at an inter-Korean summit in October
2007. The pact unravelled, however, in a fire
storm of protest by conservative lawmakers
in the South and was never implemented.
The election of a conservative government
in the South the following year and North
Korea’s leadership succession have marked
a steady worsening of ties.
In one of the worst incidents since the
Korean War, North Korea lobbed 170
Text continues on page 5
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SEA WARS THE KOREAN WAR THAT NEVER ENDS
MILITARISED ISLANDS: Anti-landing spikes (above) line the beach of Baengnyeong Island, which lies closer to Pyongyang than to Seoul. Great swathes of
the beach are lined with barbed wire and strewn with mines. Soldiers are a constant presence in island life. REUTERS/DAMIR SAGOLJ.
INSIGHT 4
SEA WARS THE KOREAN WAR THAT NEVER ENDS
shells at Yeonpyeong Island in November
2010, about half of them landing on civilian
and military targets. Two civilians and two
South Korean soldiers were killed. Only
days before, North Korea revealed to a visiting American scholar a vast new uranium
enrichment facility.
Over the next three years, North Korea
embarked on a series of long-range missile
and nuclear tests. On March 30 of this year,
Pyongyang publicly announced it would
not rule out “a new form of nuclear test.”
Analysts speculated that could mean a nuclear warhead capable of being carried by a
ballistic missile.
Dwindling blue crab catches
CRAB CATCHES, TONNES
VALUE OF CATCH, BILLION WON
3,000
30
2,000
20
1,000
10
THE ISLAND WAR ZONE
The cliff tops of Yeonpyeong Island offer
an unrivalled vantage point to watch the
cat-and-mouse games between the Koreas
on the high seas. During the Reuters visit,
two South Korean navy patrol boats and a
corvette, horns and sirens blaring, pushed
a group of Chinese fishing boats back over
the NLL. The fishing boats are often accompanied by North Korean naval escort
vessels, island residents say.
Artillery emplacements and longrange Hyunmoo-1 cruise missiles, capable
of striking the North Korean capital of
Pyongyang are stationed atop the cliffs.
Near one unguarded cruise missile, a reporter found boxes containing U.S. made
parts for an early warning system that listens for the sound of artillery. Tanks, dug
into deep sandbag-lined bunkers, face the
North Korean coast.
On the beaches below, rows of antilanding spikes and barbed wire fences
frame small coves. Debris from fishing
boats and ships lie between machine gun
emplacements. Signs warn the public not
to approach objects that look like mines.
Around 9,500 residents live on four of
the islands. A fifth island has only a military garrison on it.
One resident of Baengnyeong Island,
the largest of the five, described their home
0
'01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13
0
Source: Chosun Ilbo, Office of Ongjin-gun
as akin to “a powder keg brimming with
weapons, arms, explosives and mines.”
AN EAR FOR ARTILLERY
The sound of artillery has become so familiar to residents of the islands that local school children grow up learning to
pinpoint whether it is the North or South
Korean military that’s conducting firing
drills. For Choi Sung-il, now head of the
Yeonpyeong Island Residents’ Association,
the distant rumble of cannons used to be
something of a comfort.
“When I was little, the sound of artillery
was like a lullaby to me,” he said. “But since
the 2010 bombing, every time I hear the
sounds of gunfire or artillery during military exercises, I start to feel jittery.”
Recently, residents have discovered
crashed North Korean surveillance drones
on the islands, bearing digital photos
of South Korean military positions. On
Yeonpyeong, Reuters saw South Korean
sailors armed with a portable anti-aircraft
missile system tracking a small, remotecontrolled plane in what military officials
confirmed was a counter-drone drill.
Residents say they have seen more
South Korean marines on the island since
the shelling in 2010. They also say the military has been buying up more and more
land on the island.
INSIGHT 5
SEA WARS THE KOREAN WAR THAT NEVER ENDS
Shin Soon-ja, 72, owns a grape farm
within the grounds of a large South Korean
marine base on Yeonpyeong. “Before the
shelling (in 2010), I didn’t go to the bomb
shelters,” she said, turning the earth on a bed
of garlic with her hands. “I feel disappointed
with the North Koreans. Kim Jong Un is
vicious,” she said, referring to Pyongyang’s
young leader, the third generation of his
family to rule the totalitarian state.
Kim Jong Un raised eyebrows in 2012
when he visited North Korean islands on
the northern side of the NLL, the first
North Korean leader to do so.
According to a report on the visit by the
North’s Korean Central Television, Kim issued stark orders to soldiers defending the
northern islands. If a South Korean shell
lands in their waters, he was quoted as saying, the northern soldiers “should launch a
fatal counter-attack immediately, and not
confine it to a local war of the southwestern
front, but develop it into a sacred war for
national reunification.”
CHINESE BOATS
Im Byung-chul, 68, cultivates corn, red peppers and potatoes in a field on Yeonpyeong
Island that he’s been farming for over 25
years. For Im, the line of Chinese fishing
boats he can see in the waters beyond his
farm is more of a barometer of safety, than
a threat.
“Look, there are lots of Chinese boats,
about 11. When there are some significant
events or issues in North Korea, I don’t see
any Chinese boats. I think I must be safe
from artillery if the Chinese boats are there.”
Local South Korean coast guard officials said Chinese fishermen pay upwards
of $11,000 a month to fish in the waters
to the North Korean forces that guard the
NLL and North Korea’s west coast. “This
is how the North Korean 4th Army Corps
makes a living,” said the official, who requested anonymity.
WHITE SAND BEACHES: Tourism has fallen short of expectations despite the rugged scenery and
beautiful beaches on Baengnyeong Island. REUTERS/DAMIR /SAGOLJ
I feel disappointed with the
North Koreans. Kim Jong Un is
vicious.
Shin Soon-ja
72, a grape farmer on Yeonpyeong Island
Asked about this, South Korean Foreign
Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il said it
was illegal for Chinese fishermen to work
in those waters. “In that regard, so far we
have requested China via multiple diplomatic channels to prevent illegal fishing
activities. And the Chinese side has been
expressing its understanding.”
China’s Foreign Ministry would only
say that Beijing views the NLL as a dispute
between the two Koreas. “As a close neighbour of the Korean peninsula, China has
all along supported the resolution of the
relevant dispute via dialogue and consultations between North and South Korea,” the
ministry said in a statement.
Despite the ever-present danger of artillery shells landing in their midst, residents
of the islands hold out a quixotic hope: attracting adventure tourists.
“As we can see the North with the naked
eye, what we are asking the government is
to make this place as a security tourism
spot,” said Choi Sung-il, the Yeonpyeong
Island Residents’ Association chief.
“We keep proposing the government
to make some infrastructure so people and
students can have experiences related to the
security when they come to Yeonpyeong.”
Plans so far have fallen “short of expectation”, he said.
Editing by Bill Tarrant and Michael Williams
FOR MORE INFORMATION
James Pearson
[email protected]
Ju-Min Park
[email protected]
Bill Tarrant, Enterprise Editor
[email protected]
Michael Williams, Global Enterprise Editor
[email protected]
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INSIGHT 6