North Korea has claimed that a South Korean plan to install additional artificial fishing banks in the western zone of the disputed North-South maritime border amounts to a military provocation, according to an article published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday.

Seoul announced on July 4 that it would be installing around 80 of the banks along the southern claimed side of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in August and November as a counter to Chinese boats' illegally fishing in the region and the impacts it is having on the ecosystem. This is in addition to the 18 pre-existing banks already present.