“There has been never been a North-South agreement of any kind concerning the NLL,” Rodong Shinmun thundered on the morning of the 2nd. “The NLL was drawn unilaterally by the U.S. imperialists, and as such has never been agreed with us. It is recognized by no one.”
North Korea has violated the NLL a total of nine times in the last two months, acts that almost all South Korean experts see as attempting to highlight the perceived illegality of the NLL in advance of the South Korean presidential election on December 19th.
With the exception of fishermen waiting for the crabbing season, most North Korean people do not even know what the NLL is. People living day-to-day have no time to focus on the issue anyway, and the North Korean authorities prefer to ignore it, teaching instead about the aggressive nature of South Korea whenever there is a clash in the region.
Kim, an anonymous defector hailing from Hyesan in Yangkang Province explained, “People who work on the NLL issue know what is going on, but ordinary people don’t have much of an idea. Even people who do know about it don’t think to themselves that ‘those South Koreans have gone and lived there but it is ours and we ought to take it back’.”
The people living in Haeju and the surrounding counties of Ongjin, Kangryeong and Kwail district do at least know about the existence of the NLL, but none of them thinks it is illegal. Fishermen cannot even think of crossing it unless ordered to, because they are kept from it by DPRK Navy patrol vessels.
Choi, a defector who previously served with the DPRK Navy near the NLL agreed, saying, “The fishermen who violated the NLL recently were clearly ordered to do so. Those fishing boats should be seen as disguised naval vessels.”
Before a fisherman can be issued a license to fish he must receive education in which he is specifically warned not to defect and only to fish in approved areas. Before setting sail each vessel’s captain is told where to go and fish. As Choi said, the NLL is also guarded by patrol boats, making it highly unlikely that one vessel would cross it accidentally, much less multiple vessels on multiple occasions.
Park, a defector from close to the NLL in Haeju said, “If I was out fishing and I got near Yeonpyeong Island, the navy patrol boat would warn me not to proceed. If I had crossed the line then it could have been seen as an attempt to defect. For 60 years North Korean fishermen have been living that way, with the NLL acting as a line that can’t be crossed until unification.”
Park continued, “North Korean fishermen do not want inter-Korean military conflict or any heightened tension near the NLL because that could stop them fishing, so they actually really want it to be maintained.”
Simply, North Korean cadres recognize the NLL in its present form, but pursue conflict surrounding it for political reasons. One defector, Choi, explained, “I once spoke to a senior cadre about the NLL, and he said they do acknowledge the NLL as a real maritime military demarcation line. The only time they say they cannot accept it is in propaganda targeting the South.”
“They need to make a fuss about the NLL to flatter their superiors or Kim Jong Eun,” Choi added. “Even when Kim Jong Il was still alive, commanders would complain that soldiers’ lives were being wasted whenever orders to cross the NLL were received.”
