The movement of Chinese vessels in North Korea waters giving rise to speculation that the country is planning some kind of military action in the area. The boats vanished late last month, and over 50 of them abruptly left the area on the afternoon of Feb. 4. The South Korean Defense Ministry on Wednesday denied this had to do with impending military action by the North.
According to the ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae claims that Chinese fishing boats moved out of the sea near the the Northern Limit Line (NLL) prior to the two previous inter-Korean naval skirmishes has been proven groundless. History evident that both the 1999 and 2002 naval clashes took place off Yeonpyeong Island, and Chinese trawlers were fishing off nearby Baeknyeong Island on both occasions.
It was in 2003 when the Chinese fishing started near the de-facto maritime border, and Chinese fishing boats have since abruptly left the area twice although there was no North Korean military provocation. A military source said that indicates Chinese authorities to have ordered the fishing vessels to withdraw. Shandong Province fishing authorities in a homepage notice on Jan. 23 reportedly called for caution in fishing near the NLL, and recently sent skippers a radio message of that effect.
