朝韩船只在边界附近海域交火

South and North Korean ships exchanged warning shots near a disputed maritime border on Tuesday, highlighting the countries’ volatile relationship just three days after a high-level meeting raised hopes of a thaw.

韩国和朝鲜巡逻艇周二在边界附近一处争议海域发生交火。三天前，两国刚举行一场高层会谈，让外界看到两国改善关系的希望。

Seoul’s defence ministry said that a North Korean naval vessel had strayed on Tuesday morning half a nautical mile over the Northern Limit Line – a border set down by the US-led UN force at the end of the Korean war, which has never been accepted by Pyongyang.

韩国国防部称，周二早晨，一艘朝鲜船只越过了“北方界线”0.5海里。“北方界线”是朝鲜战争结束时由美国领导的联合国盟军划定的，但朝鲜一直不予承认。

A South Korean ship fired heavy machinegun rounds as a warning, and the North Korean ship returned warning fire before retreating, having spent about 10 minutes south of the NLL.

一艘韩方巡逻艇随即向朝鲜巡逻艇开火。朝鲜巡逻艇在开火回击后撤退，此时已在“北方界线”南侧停留了约10分钟。

No damage or injuries were reported – in contrast with other clashes in the region over the past decade, notably North Korea’s shelling of a South Korean island in 2010, which killed four people.

目前尚未有损失或伤亡的报告。

However, the incident will temper optimism over the visit on Saturday of an unusually high-level North Korean delegation to Incheon, near South Korea’s capital, to mark the close of the Asian Games in the city.

但此次事件还是为朝韩关系再度蒙上阴影。仅在上周六，朝鲜派出罕见的高规格代表团访问韩国仁川市，出席了在那里举行的亚运会闭幕式。