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Seoul (ANTARA News / Reuters) - Disturbances of fishing vessels that crossed the North Korean maritime border in dispute with South Korea increased since last year and did not decline in frequency since the sinking of the battleship Seoul, said a defense ministry official said Thursday.

"Northern Boundary" in the Yellow Sea, off the west coast of Korea, Korean War 1950-1953 yag approved, the site of several bloody clashes in the past, and the tension increased after Cheonan South Korean warships exploding and sinking, the chance of new clashes increased.

It is unclear whether the violation was intentional, but some military-operated ship was North Korea, South Korean Yonhap news agency said quoting a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Park Sung-Woo.

"Our military confirms N Korea operates fishing ships in waters off South Korea, but we could not yet confirm if the ships were equipped with heavy weapons," said Park.

So far this year an average of 20 cases, the boats retreated after receiving warnings from the South Korean navy, he said.

One team of investigators, led by South Korean military, last May said a submarine mentorpedo Cheonan Korea, to present evidence that parts of the weapon had been found from the location of the incident.

Pyongyang said the incident was engineered and threatened military action if the UN Security Council to punish him.