The reports of the missile test and the boat movements came from South Korea's Yonhap news agency, which said the nearly 300 Chinese fishing boats had dwindled by about half. It was not known whether the Chinese boats had been warned to move by North Korean officials or they left on their own hoping to avoid clashes in the area.
South Korea is preparing for possible missile or artillery strikes near the disputed western sea border, the Seoul-based daily Chosun Ilbo reported Thursday. The North said this week it would no longer respect that border, which has been the site of two naval skirmishes in the past decade.
The latest missile firing comes after the joint command for South Korean and U.S. forces on the Korean Peninsula raised its alert Thursday to the second-highest level, "Watch Condition II" in response to the extraordinary week of truculence from North Korea. With 655,000 troops from the South and 28,500 troops from the United States, the joint command last raised its alert to this level in 2006, after North Korea's first nuclear test.
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