SEOUL -- South Korea's navy fired warning shots Monday after North Korean patrol boats crossed the maritime border, the military said.
The South Korean navy first broadcast radio warnings as three North Korean patrol boats neared the Northern Limit Line off the western coast, but the North Korean boats entered South Korean waters Monday morning, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a press release.
After warning shots were fired, the North Korean vessels retreated to the northern side of the NLL, a U.N.-imposed Korean maritime border established after the Korean War.
The North's vessels, however, re-entered South Korean waters again some 20 minutes later. They finally retreated after South Korea again fired warning shots.
They were the first warning shots by the South's navy since it loosened its rules of operation in September. Under the rules the navy is urged to refrain from firing warning shots at North Korean military vessels if they are believed to have mistakenly crossed the sea border.
