Battle of Daecheong

The Battle of Daecheong was a skirmish between the South Korean and North Korean navies near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) on 10 November 2009 off Daecheong Island. A patrol boat from the northern Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was seriously damaged while the navy of the southern Republic of Korea (ROK) sustained no casualties.

Engagement
The incident began around 11:27 am when a North Korean navy patrol boat crossed down through the NLL, which is not recognized by the DPRK, following two warnings from South Korean naval units. After one more warning announcement, one of the South Korean patrol boats fired a warning shot. In response, the North Korean boat began firing upon the South Korean ship. This resulted in a short exchange of fire between the sides. The North Korea vessel expended approximately 50 rounds, and the South Korean craft returned fire with 200 rounds.

The Korean Central News Agency, the official news agency of North Korea, accused the South Korean Navy of provoking the confrontation at maritime boundary between the two Koreas. The DPRK news agency reported that "... the North side let a patrol boat of the Navy of the KPA on routine guard duty promptly go into action to confirm an unidentified object that intruded into the waters of its side. When the patrol boat was sailing back after confirming the object at about 11: 20 a group of warships of the South Korean forces chased it and perpetrated such a grave provocation as firing at it. The patrol boat of the North side, which has been always combat-ready, lost no time to deal a prompt retaliatory blow at the provokers. Much flurried by this, the group of warships of the South Korean forces hastily took to flight to the waters of their side."

Aftermath
After the battle, the South Korea patrol boat had suffered only superficial damage (reportedly 15 bullet marks on the ship's side) with no casualties, while the fire-gutted North Korean patrol boat was left partially destroyed. Though there was no official announcement from North Korea, a news agency in South Korea reported a rumor that North Korea suffered four casualties (1 KIA / 3 WIA). On the other hand, a defector said about 10 North Korean sailors were killed in action. The Korean Central News Agency (North Korea) pressed South Korea to apologize for the violation.