Quote:
Originally Posted by SeeBass
How come nobody is talking about the South shooting into Northern waters for a training exersise? That makes no sense why they would do it if not to poke the North.
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The problem is the whole area is in dispute. The SK navy and the islands that got shelled are in an area south of the Norther Limit Line (NLL which runs parallel with NK's costline) which is recognized by the united nations and almost all other countries as the southernmost point of NK territory in that area. NK on the other hand has drawn it's own Military Demarcation Line (MDL which runs parallel with the DMZ) that no one else recognizes.
The SK navy (along formerly with the US navy) hold exercises there every single year at the same time. NK has never been happy about this condition of the armistice because it had no say in the matter. While the Chinese and the NKs had a powerful army during the the war, they had no navy to speak of to enforce the MDL. So this has been a point of contention for years. Meanwhile the US/UN/SK has held exercises in the area as a show of force to enforce the NLL. NKs contend that the they were firing in retaliation for being fired upon during the exercises, but the SK exercises ended about half a day before the shelling began and were well off the coast.