The two Koreas exchanged naval gunfire off the coast of North Korea in disputed waters - the first time in seven years shots had been fired in anger.

The North Koreans started it - the South Koreans finished it, according to this New York Times report by Choe Sang-Hun:

North and South Korean naval vessels exchanged fire in disputed waters off the western coast of the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday, leaving one North Korean vessel engulfed in flames, South Korean officials said.

The two Koreas accused each other of violating territorial waters, provoking the fierce two-minute skirmish. It was the first border fighting in seven years between the countries, which technically remain at war after fighting in the 1950-3 Korean War ended in a truce rather than a permanent peace treaty.

The incident served as a reminder of instability in the region just days before President Obama was to begin a weeklong visit to Asia. North Korea's nuclear weapons program will be a leading topic not only when he meets with President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul next week but also during bilateral talks that American officials say they will begin soon with the North.

Ahead of those talks, North Korea apparently intended for the clash to highlight its long-standing argument that the 1950-3 Korean War never officially ended and that the United States must negotiate a peace treaty if it wants the North to give up its nuclear weapons program, according to analysts in Seoul.

The South issued a statement after the skirmish saying it had suffered no casualties.

An expensive "point" for the North Koreans to make. A few more like that and they won't have much of a navy left.

Of course, the NoKo's are always sending "signals" to the US, promising to ditch its nuclear program if we only do as they ask. They've never lived up to that bargain before so, unless you are a naive dolt of a president who believes everything the enemy says, there isn't a chance in hell that we will give in to the North Korean demands, right?

Right?