Three-day silence augurs well for crew of seized ship
Three-day silence augurs well for crew of seized ship
By Kate Webb
SEOUL (AFP): An unusual three-day silence from both sides of
the Korean peninsula over a South Korean rice ship seized on
Sunday augurs well for the tentative thaw between the rivals,
analysts said Wednesday.
North Korea boarded the 9,367-ton Samsun Venus in the port of
Chongjin and detained its crew on charges of spying while they
unloaded 5,000 tons of rice given by South Korea to relieve the
communist North's food crisis.
But Pyongyang, which normally loses no opportunity to hurl
vitriolic abuse at the South, has maintained an unusual, total
public silence this time.
The incident came days before South Korean President Kim
Young-sam was to announce a new North-South initiative on the
Aug. 15 anniversary of the liberation of the peninsula from
Japanese colonial rule.
"Maybe in this case silence is golden," said one Seoul
analyst, noting that when a South Korean fishing boat strayed
into Northern waters on May 31, Pyongyang radio immediately
flashed the news of "an illegal intruder."
Seoul also sat on the news until Wednesday, when the Yonhap
news agency said talks in Beijing on granting more rice had been
canceled at the North's request. Journalists bombarded officials
with requests for an explanation.
Finally Seoul's Vice Unification Minister Song Yong-dae
admitted Pyongyang had stopped the ship, adding that Seoul had
been trying to work the issue out quietly to prevent a "political
confrontation."
An earlier problem in the rice shipments was resolved when
North Korea expressed regret at having forced the captain of
freighter Sea Apex, to lower his flag before entering Chongjin.
In that case, too, there was an absence of the usual vitriol,
and the shipments resumed after the message of regret.
Only 70,000 tons of the 150,000 tons donated has been
delivered so far, though supplementary Japanese rice shipments
are underway.
The North had said the 21 crew, in particular a 34-year-old
navigation officer who had "confessed", had been spying, and that
the Beijing talks had been canceled, Song said.
The minister denied the spying charge but hastened to that
Seoul had been trying to work the issue out quietly through
unofficial contacts to prevent a new "political confrontation."
North Korea seized the US spy ship Pueblo at the height of the
Cold War in January of 1968, and took the six officers, 75
enlisted men and two civilians aboard prisoner.
One crew member died in captivity and the rest of the crew
remained prisoners for 11 months.