Reports: 2 Koreas exchange artillery fire near their disputed western sea border

Reports: 2 Koreas fire artillery along coast

SEOUL, South Korea — North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire along their disputed western sea border on Wednesday, two days after the North designated no-sail zones in the area, the military and news reports said.

North Korea fired several rounds of land-based artillery off its coast, an officer at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of department policy, said no causalities or damage were immediately reported.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the South immediately returned fire from a marine base on an island near the sea border. Yonhap, citing an unidentified presidential official, said both Koreas fired into the air.

South Korea’s YTN television network carried a similar report on the exchange of fire.

The officer at the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he could not immediately confirm that South Korea returned fire.

The western sea border is a constant source of tension between the two Koreas. Their navies fought a brief gunbattle in November that left one North Korean sailor dead and three others wounded.

In a possible indication it may be preparing to conduct missile tests in the area, North Korea designated two no-sail zones along the sea border on Monday through March 29, including some South Korean-held waters, according to the Defense Ministry. Yonhap said the North’s artillery fire landed in North Korean waters.

The disputed sea border was drawn by the U.N. Command at the end of the Korean War and North Korea has repeatedly insisted it should be moved further south. The dispute also led to bloody naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.

The two Koreas are still technically at war because the 1950-53 war ended with an armistice, not a formal peace treaty.