North Korea has threatened its southern neighbor with naval military clashes after South Korean warships intruded into its territorial waters. The South's 'reckless military provocations' have created 'such a serious situation that a naval clash may break out between the two sides', the North's navy said in a statement on Thursday. Pyongyang accused Seoul of sending warships across their sea border.
The statement also noted the incursions were part of 'premeditated moves to deliberately escalate tension in the waters, a hotbed of conflict, and deteriorate the North-South relations once again'.
Pyongyang does not recognize the western sea border, saying the United Nations unilaterally drew the line at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, and that it should be redrawn further south.
Thursday's warning came as ties between the two Koreas showed signs of improvement with the North taking a series of conciliatory steps, such as freeing detained South Koreans and pledging to resume stalled joint projects. On Wednesday, the North offered a rare apology to the South for releasing a massive amount of water from a dam that sparked flooding blamed for the death of six South Koreans.