Asia-Pacific

DPRK declares no sail zone off west coast

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-26 22:40
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SEOUL: South Korea's Ministry of Defense is verifying the news report that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) declared Tuesday a no sail zone off west coast, the ministry's press office told Xinhua.

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South Korea's Yonhap news agency earlier reported that the DPRK declared a shipping ban in area south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), citing unnamed South Korean military officials.

South Korean military is trying to figure out if the move is part of the routine military exercises or preparation for firing a short-range missile, Yonhap said.

The NLL was fixed unilaterally by the US-led United Nations Command after the Korean War (1950-1953). Seoul holds the NLL as the de-facto western inter-Korean maritime border, but Pyongyang does not accept it.
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