North, South Korea naval patrol boats exchange fire

North and South Korean naval patrol boats briefly exchanged warning fire on Tuesday near their disputed Yellow Sea border which has been the site of numerous clashes in the past, the South’s defence ministry said. The incident came as hopes had been raised of a constructive reboot in strained inter-Korean relations following the surprise visit of a top-ranking N Korean delegation to the South just three days before. The defence ministry said the South’s patrol boat had initially fired a warning shot after the N Korean vessel penetrated half a nautical mile inside the South’s territorial waters. The South’s patrol boat fired ‘around 90’ rounds in total.