First Battle of Yeonpyeong

First battle of Yeonpyeong

Date	9–15 June 1999
Location	Northern Limit Line, Yellow Sea
Result	South Korean victory

Belligerents

DPRK

ROK

Casualties and losses

1 torpedo boat sunk,
3 patrol boats severely damaged,
2 patrol boats slightly damaged,
17-30 killed,
~70 wounded

1 corvette slightly damaged,
1 patrol boat slightly damaged,
9 wounded

The First Battle of Yeonpyeong (Korean: 제1 연평해전, Je Il(1) Yeonpyeong Haejeon) took place between the navies of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) on 15 June 1999, off the island of Yeonpyeong.

The battle occurred after North Korea began a sustained campaign to redraw the maritime boundary line – known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL) – between the two Koreas. On 6 June 1999, North Korea's state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) claimed that the "sea boundary line" had been violated by South Korean warships that had illegally trespassed in the North's territorial waters.

The following day, three North Korean patrol boats and thirteen fishing boats belonging to the North Korean Navy crossed the NLL 5.6 nautical miles (10.4 km; 6.4 mi) off Yeonpyeong. The South Korean Navy responded by sending five fast boats and four patrol ships in a bid to prevent the North Koreans from crossing the NLL.

On 8 June, seven North Korean patrol boats and seventeen fishing vessels repeatedly crossed the NLL between 05:55 and 23:20 local time. Twelve South Korean fast boats and four patrol ships were deployed and South Korean fishing boats were ordered to leave the area. The South Korean military issued a directive ordering a "bold response" to North Korean provocations, while stressing the need to uphold the rules of engagement.

The first physical confrontation occurred on 9 June, when six North Korean patrol boats and five fishing boats crossed the NLL again. As on the previous day, the South Koreans deployed twelve patrol boats and four patrol ships. At 06:35, a North Korean patrol boat collided with a South Korean fast boat, causing minor damage.

The South Korean Ministry of National Defense issued a statement calling on the North Koreans to desist. Further clashes occurred the following day when South Korean fast boats confronted four North Korean patrol boats that were accompanying a group of twenty fishing boats. The South Korean government decided at this point to use force to oppose further crossings of the NLL.

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Wikipedia