Seven North Korean fishing boats crossed the tense western maritime border with South Korea twice on Wednesday, but moved back into the North’s waters after a South Korean naval boat broadcast warning messages, military officials said.

The North Korean fishing boats sailed 1.5 kilometers into the South’s waters around 7:30 a.m., but retreated after South Korean patrol boats broadcast a warning, officials at Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

At the time, a North Korean government boat also briefly crossed the de facto sea border trying to escort the fishing boats back onto the North’s side of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the Yellow Sea, JCS officials said. No skirmish erupted.

About two hours later, seven North Korean fishing boats again sailed 2.2 kilometers into the South’s waters, but moved back to the North’s waters after warning messages from South Korean naval boats, JCS officials said.

“After our patrol boat ordered them to retreat, the North Korean fishing boats returned to the northern side of the NLL,” a JCS official said on the condition of anonymity.

“Given the circumstances, they sailed into the South’s waters for fishing,” the official said. (Yonhap News)