ated the sea border between the countries twice this month, while a newspaper reported at least one of the incursions appeared intentional. The incidents came as relations between the two countries remained at their lowest in years as the North has strongly protested the hard-line stance South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has taken toward Pyongyang since assuming office in February.
The office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said it believes the violations, which came on May 6 and May 17, were accidental because the North's vessels were in the South's waters briefly and turned back after warnings.
Two North Korean vessels were in the South's waters for 16 minutes during the May 6 violation, while the second involved one vessel that remained south of the sea border for 25 minutes, the office said. It said the North's ships were cracking down on Chinese boats allegedly conducting illegal fishing in the area.
They were the North's second and third violations of the maritime border this year. The first came on March 28.
But the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported that the South's military collected intelligence showing one of the incursions appear premeditated. The paper said in a report about the May 6 violation that the North's military gave the patrol vessels an instruction to ignore warnings from the South. The paper did not elaborate.
An official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff declined to confirm the report, saying it was an intelligence matter. He spoke on customary condition of anonymity, citing official policy.
North Korea does not recognize the sea border off the divided peninsula's west coast, which was drawn unilaterally by U.N. forces at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Pyongyang claims the line should be further south.
The disputed border led to deadly naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002, and has been a point of contention in military talks between the two sides.
