华盛顿敦促北韩方面不要使黄海紧张态势进一步升级。此前星期二南北韩海军在黄海发生短暂冲突。白宫新闻发言人吉布斯表示，华盛顿希望平壤不要在这个地区采取任何可能被视为冲突升级的行动。韩国军方说，韩国战舰在北韩一舰艇越过朝鲜半岛西岸有争议的海上限界线后向北韩舰艇射击示警。
韩国表示，北韩警备艇撤退前在冲突中严重受创。一名韩国军方官员对发生冲突表示遗憾，并说韩国已向平壤提出强烈抗议。北韩官方通讯社说，北韩警备艇当时在执行任务，确定北韩海域内的一个不明物体。
Washington has urged North Korea not to escalate tensions in the Yellow Sea following a naval skirmish between the North and South Korean navies Tuesday.White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says Washington hopes Pyongyang will not take any further actions in the area that could be seen as an escalation.South Korea’s military says one of its warships first fired warning shots at a North Korean boat that it says crossed the Korean maritime border off the west coast of the Korean peninsula.
South Korea says the North Korean patrol boat suffered heavy damage in the exchange before retreating. A South Korean military official (Lee Gi-sik) described the incident as regrettable and said Seoul has lodged a strong protest with Pyongyang. North Korea’s official (KCNA) news agency says its patrol boat was on a mission to confirm an unidentified object on its side of the border.