Our Ship Crossed North of the NLL and Returned: "Navigational Error"

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] One of our vessels crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) due to a navigational error in the West Sea but has since returned.

According to the Central Regional Coast Guard Headquarters on the 17th, around 1 p.m. that day, a 4.59-ton Korean transport vessel briefly crossed north of the NLL at a point approximately 11.4 km northwest of Udo near Yeonpyeongdo, Ongjin-gun, Incheon. A Joint Chiefs of Staff official stated, "Around 1 p.m. today, a small Korean fishing vessel east of Yeonpyeong briefly crossed the NLL due to a navigational error but returned."

The vessel remained north of the NLL for about 10 minutes. At that time, the Navy detected the fishing vessel crossing north of the NLL and notified the Coast Guard, and the vessel immediately returned to our waters. The vessel had two Vietnamese crew members and one Chinese crew member on board. It is understood that the captain was not on board separately. There were no unusual movements reported from the North Korean military.

A Joint Chiefs of Staff official explained, "The military is cooperating with relevant agencies to investigate the overall circumstances of the crossing, including the cause," adding, "We will provide additional explanations once the investigation results are available."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.