North Korea threatens to fire in the area of maritime boundary

North Korea has declared "kill zone" on Monday disputed maritime border with South Korea, after deadly clashes in the area last month.
The naval command Pyongyang has accused Seoul of "dangerous military provocations" in the area, of violating its territorial waters and to hold military exercises in the area. South Korea denies and deplored the decision of its neighbor.

North Korea does not recognize the maritime border demarcated by the UN after the Korean War 1950-53, end that was never formalized by a treaty of peace. The long-standing demand that the route is pushed further south. This has led to clashes in 1999, 2002 and last month.

In the incident of November, boats North and South Korea exchanged gunfire in the disputed waters. A North Korean sailor was killed and three others were wounded, according to the South.

Pyongyang announced Monday that the area became "a naval firing range in time of peace" for his army, which apparently means that artillery shells could descend into such waters. "All fishing boats and war must take their own security measures to protect themselves in this area," added the naval command said in a statement quoted by the official news agency KCNA said North Korea.

What the South Korean Navy said in a statement it was "end ready to defend the maritime boundary". "We will act with severity in cases of North Korean provocations," she warned.