North and South Korea clash at sea, four South Koreans reported killed
North and South Korea clash at sea, four South Koreans reported killed
Paul Shin, Associated Press, Seoul
In the most serious border clash in three years, a North Korean
navy boat with heavy-caliber weapons sank a South Korean patrol
boat in the western sea on Saturday, the South Korean military
said.
At least four South Korean sailors died, 22 were wounded and
one was missing.
There was no immediate word on North Korean casualties. A
Northern warship was seen towed in flames across the sea border,
said Army Lt. Gen. Lee Sang-hee, chief operations officer for the
Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The 21-minute clash in the Yellow Sea was a blow to President
Kim Dae-jung's efforts to reconcile with communist North Korea,
which shares a sealed, heavily fortified border with the South.
The 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace
treaty.
It was unclear how the incident would affect prospects for a
revival of long-suspended dialogue between North Korea and the
United States, South Korea's chief ally.
On Thursday, a U.S. State Department official proposed to
North Korean diplomats at the United Nations that talks resume in
the second week of July in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
An expert on North Korea at the Sejong Institute, a private
research center in Seoul, speculated that the North might
apologize secretly to the South for what he believed was an
"isolated" case.
"If the case is not resolved smoothly, it will have a
devastating impact on South-North relations as well as U.S.-North
Korean relations," said the expert, Paik Hak-soon.
South Korea blamed North Korea for the naval clash, saying two
communist boats had intruded up to 4.8 kilometers into South
Korean waters. They ignored warnings to withdraw, broadcast from
South Korean military boats with loudspeakers, Lee said.
"The North Korean provocation is a clear violation of the
armistice agreement and we hereby strongly warn that all
responsibility for this rests with the North Korean side," Lee
said.
President Kim convened an emergency National Security Council
meeting on Saturday afternoon, and canceled plans to watch on
television the South Korean soccer team's evening playoff game
against Turkey in the World Cup. Huge crowds were gathering in
the streets of major cities to cheer their team.
"We urge the people to continue their everyday life with ease
and resolution as the military and the government is thoroughly
prepared," presidential spokeswoman Park Sun-sook said.
All South Korean television stations, which have been
reporting heavily on the fortunes of their soccer team, cut off
regular programming to report the naval battle.
The clash occurred at 10:25 a.m. when two South Korean navy
vessels tried to repel two North Korean navy warships and an
unspecified number of Northern fishing boats.
A South Korean navy speedboat with 27 sailors aboard took a
direct hit in its steering room and caught fire. It sank as it
was being towed away. The South Korean military said the
communist boats started firing first from about 500 meters away.
About 150 South Korean fishing boats operating in the area
were immediately evacuated after the clash.
The maritime border between the two Koreas is not clearly
marked. South Korea accused North Korea of making 12 brief border
violations in the western sea last year.
In the summer of 1999, a series of border violations by North
Korean ships touched off the first naval clash between the two
Koreas since the 1950-53 Korean War. One North Korean warship
sank and about 30 North Korean sailors died, according to South
Korea. Several South Korean sailors were wounded.