North, South Korea exchange fire near sea border

Seoul - North and South Korea on Wednesday exchanged fire in waters off their disputed western sea border, officials in Seoul said.

North Korea fired about 30 artillery shells into its part of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) from 9:05 am (0005 GMT) to 10:16 am, the South's Yonhap News Agency quoted a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul as saying.

 "We have confirmed North Korea's firing of several artillery shells, but they did not cross the NLL," Park Sung Woo said. "We are on high military alert."

   South Korea responded by firing shoreline cannons into the air, a senior official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed at a press conference, stressing they were only warning shots as the North's shells landed well within its own waters.

 "We would have made a counterattack if the shells flew toward the west" into South Korean territorial waters, the officer said. "We will act upon our exchange-fire principles, however, should North Korea cross the line. We are fully prepared for all circumstances and are on high alert."

   There were no casualties or injuries in Wednesday's shooting, another South Korean official said.

 The incident came at a time of a renewed rise in tensions between the two Koreas after the North this month threatened a "holy war" against its southern neighbour.

 North Korea on Monday declared parts of the disputed area in the Yellow Sea "no-sail" zones, raising speculation that Pyongyang was preparing missile tests.

 In November, the two Koreas engaged in their first naval clash in seven years. South Korea's navy damaged a North Korean vessel that had violated the western sea border.

 North Korea does not recognize the Northern Limit Line, which was unilaterally drawn in 1953 by US-led United Nations forces after the Korean War.

 Yonhap quoted South Korean analysts as saying that Pyongyang's latest moves were an attempt to increase leverage as the Stalinist state intends to return to multilateral denuclearization talks.