President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed Thursday to respond firmly to North Korea's provocations as he marked the anniversary of a 1999 inter-Korean naval skirmish near the maritime border.

"We will respond firmly without a moment of hesitation to North Korea's reckless provocations," he wrote on his Facebook page. "Only our overwhelming strength will bring true peace, not a fake peace that we must beg the enemy for."

Yoon has previously cast the former Moon Jae-in administration's push for reconciliation with the North as an act of begging for peace.

The 1999 skirmish took place near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea, scuttling one North Korean ship and wreaking havoc on nine others.

The South's Navy suffered no casualties, while South Korean officials estimated dozens of North Korean soldiers were killed.

"Our Navy sailors who went to battle without a moment of hesitation suppressed the North Korean patrol vessels and defended the NLL," Yoon wrote. "Their burning spirit of patriotism continues in their juniors." (Yonhap)