The following is a list of border incidents involving North and South Korea since the Korean Armistice Agreement of July 27, 1953, ended large scale military action of the Korean War. Most of these incidents took place near either the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) or the Northern Limit Line (NLL). This list includes engagements on land, air, and sea, but does not include alleged incursions and terrorist incidents that occurred away from the border. A total of 3,693 armed North Korean agents have infiltrated into South Korea between 1954 and 1992, with 20% of these occurring between 1967 and 1968.[1]
Many of the incidents occurring at sea are due to border disputes. In 1977 North Korea claimed an Exclusive Economic Zone over a large area south of the disputed western maritime border, the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea.[2] This is a prime fishing area, particularly for crabs, and clashes commonly occur, which have been dubbed the "Crab Wars".[3] As of January 2011, North Korea had violated the armistice 221 times, including 26 military attacks.[4]
There were also incursions into North Korea. In 1976, in now-declassified meeting minutes, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense William Clements told Henry Kissinger that there had been 200 raids or incursions into North Korea from the south, though not by the U.S. military.[5] Details of only a few of these incursions have become public, including raids by South Korean forces in 1967 that had sabotaged about 50 North Korean facilities.[6]
1980s
- March 1980: Three North Koreans are killed while trying to cross the Han River estuary into the South.[citation needed]
- May 1980: North Koreans engage US/ROK Outpost Ouillette on the DMZ in a firefight. One North Korean is wounded in action.[citation needed]
- March 1981: Three North Koreans try to enter South Korea in Geumhwa-eup, Cheorwon, Gangwon-do; one is killed.[citation needed]
- July 1981: Three North Koreans are killed trying to cross the upper Imjin River to the South.[citation needed]
- May 1982: Two North Korean infiltrators are spotted on the east coast, with one being killed.[citation needed]
- December 1983: U.S. soldiers encounter attempted infiltration of North Korean soldiers over the MDL south into the American sector but were repelled by the QRF deployed from Camp Greaves, South Korea.[citation needed]
- April 1984: South Korean agents entered the DMZ near the Imjin River, a single agent killed by a landmine with body recovered by North Korean soldiers.[28]
- November 1984: Three North Korean and one South Korean soldiers killed, and one American soldier wounded in a firefight that broke out after a Soviet defector fled across the DMZ into South Korea.[29]
- November 1987: One American soldier and two North Korean soldiers die, and one American soldier is wounded during the firefight that erupted when a North Korean security detail confronted a sniper detail across the MDL into the southern-controlled sector of the Joint Security Area.[citation needed]
- November 1987: One South Korean killed at the DMZ central sector by North Korean sniper fire.[citation needed]
1990s
- March 1990: The fourth North Korean infiltration tunnel is discovered, in what may be a total of seventeen tunnels in all.
- May 1992: Three North Korean soldiers in South Korean uniforms are killed at Cheorwon, Gangwon-do; three South Korean soldiers are wounded.
- December 17, 1994: A U.S. Army OH-58A+ Kiowa helicopter inadvertently crosses 10 km into North Korean territory and is shot down. Of the crew of two, one dies and the other is held for 13 days. The Clinton Administration apologized for the incident and paid reparations to North Korea. [27][30]
- May 1995: North Korean forces fire on a South Korean fishing boat, killing three.[citation needed]
- October 1995: Two armed North Koreans are discovered at the Imjin River; one is killed.[citation needed]
- April 1996: Several hundred armed North Korean troops enter the DMZ at the Joint Security Area and elsewhere on three occasions, in violation of the Korean armistice agreement.[citation needed]
- May 1996: Seven Northern soldiers cross the DMZ, but withdraw after warning shots are fired.[citation needed]
- May & June 1996: North Korean vessels twice cross the Northern Limit Line and have a several-hour standoff with the South Korean navy.[citation needed]
- September 1996: A North Korean Sang-O-class submarine inserts a reconnaissance team and runs aground on the east coast of South Korea near Jeongdongjin, 20 kilometres south-east of Gangneung, Gangwon-do, leading to a 49-day manhunt for the 25 crewmen.
- April 1997: Five North Korean soldiers cross the DMZ in Cheolwon, Gangwon-do, and fire on South Korean positions.
- June 1997: Three North Korean vessels cross the Northern Limit Line and attack South Korean vessels two miles (3 km) south of the line. On land, fourteen North Korean soldiers cross 70 m south of the center of the DMZ, leading to a 23-minute exchange of fire.[31]
- June 1998: A North Korean Yugo-class submarine became entangled in a fishing driftnet. It was salvaged on 25 June and the bodies of nine crewmen were recovered all dead by gunshot wounds.
- July 1998: A dead North Korean frogman was found with paraphernalia on a beach south of the DMZ.[32]
- June 1999: The First Battle of Yeonpyeong, a series of clashes between North and South Korean vessels, takes place in the Yellow Sea near the Northern Limit Line.
2000s
- October 26, 2000: Two US aircraft observing a ROK army military exercise accidentally cross over the DMZ. The Clinton Administration apologized for the incident and paid reparations to North Korea. [27]
- 2001: On twelve separate occasions, North Korean vessels cross the Northern Limit Line and then withdraw.[citation needed]
- November 27, 2001: North and South Korean forces exchange fire without injuries.[citation needed]
- June 29, 2002: The second battle of Yeonpyeong leads to the deaths of six South Korean sailors and the sinking of a South Korean vessel. The number of North Koreans killed is unknown.
- November 16, 2002: South Korean forces fire warning shots on a Northern boat crossing the Northern Limit Line. The boat withdraws. The similar incident is repeated on November 20.[citation needed]
- February 19, 2003: A North Korean fighter plane crosses seven miles (11 km) south of the Northern Limit Line, and returns north after being intercepted by six South Korean planes.[citation needed]
- March 2, 2003: Four North Korean fighter jets intercept a US RC-135S Cobra Ball reconnaissance plane over the Sea of Japan. US officials later alleged that they intended to force the plane to land in North Korea and take the crew as hostages. [33][34]
- July 17, 2003: North and South Korean forces exchange fire at the DMZ around 6 AM. The South Korean army reports four rounds fired from the North and seventeen from the South. No injuries are reported.[35]
- November 1, 2004: North Korean vessels, claiming to be in pursuit of illegal fishing craft, cross the Northern Limit Line and are fired upon by the South. The vessels withdraw 3 hours later.[citation needed]
- May 26, 2006: Two North Korean soldiers enter the DMZ and cross into South Korea. They return after South Korean soldiers fire warning shots.[citation needed]
- July 30, 2006: Several gunshots are exchanged near a South Korean post in Yanggu, Gangwon.
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- October 7, 2006: South Korean soldiers fire warning shots after five North Korean soldiers cross briefly onto their side of the border.[citation needed]
- October 27, 2009: A South Korean pig farmer, who was wanted for assault, cut a hole in the DMZ fence and defected to North Korea.[36]
- November 10, 2009: Naval vessels from the two Koreas exchanged fire in the area of the NLL, reportedly causing serious damage to a North Korean patrol ship.[37][38] For more details of this incident, see Battle of Daecheong.