The International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened a preliminary examination to evaluate whether the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) committed war crimes in two conflicts with South Korea, said Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor of the ICC.

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One case was the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island on the November 23, 2010 which resulted in the killing of 4 South Korean marines and civilians and the injury of many others. But Pyongyang insisted that it fired the artilleries in self-defense.

The other incident was the sinking of a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, on March 26, 2010, killing 46 sailors. South Korea claimed that the warship was sunken by a torpedo attack from a DPRK submarine. But DPRK refuted the accusation and denied any involvement in the warship sinking.