North Korean ship 'in flames' after sea skirmish with South
Wednesday November 11 2009
North and South Korean warships exchanged fire along a disputed sea border area off the west coast of the Korean peninsula yesterday, just days before US President Barack Obama was due to embark on a crucial tour of Asia.
The skirmish in the Yellow Sea, the first for seven years, left a North Korean patrol vessel "engulfed in flames" as it retreated back across the border, according to Chung Un-Chan, the South Korean prime minister.
The clash came at a time when relations between the nations appeared to be thawing after tensions earlier this year caused by North Korea's testing of a nuclear device in defiance of UN sanctions. South Korean analysts speculated that the apparent provocation by the North was an attempt to serve up a reminder of the volatility of the peninsula to Mr Obama, who agreed on Monday to send an envoy to the North Korean capital Pyongyang.
Warning
Officials in the South Korean capital, Seoul, said it had suffered no casualties from the battle, which took place after a South Korean patrol boat fired warning shots across the bow of the North Korean naval ship that had crossed the disputed Northern Limit Line, 120 nautical miles west of Incheon.
"It wasn't a close-range battle. We fired heavily on the North Korean vessel," a navy official said.
"It is our assessment that the North Korean boat suffered considerable damage."
South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said the North Korean patrol boat ignored five warnings to turn back before it opened fire. The South's ship returned fire before the North's vessel sailed back towards its waters.
North Korea's military blamed the South and called for it to apologise for a "grave armed provocation", and claimed that Seoul's ships had opened fire while its craft was north of the border. The North added that its boat "lost no time to deal a prompt retaliatory blow at the provokers".
North and South Korean navies fought deadly skirmishes along the western sea border in the Yellow Sea in 1999 and 2002, when six South Korean sailors were killed.
Tensions
Last month, the North's navy accused South Korea of sending warships across the border to stir tensions, adding that the "reckless military provocations" could trigger armed clashes.
North Korea has indicated it is prepared to return to stalled six-party talks on its nuclear disarmament, but is seeking direct talks with the US as a precondition.
"It was an intentional provocation by North Korea to draw attention ahead of Obama's trip," said Shin Yul, a political science professor at Seoul's Myongji University.
He also said the North was sending a message to Mr Obama that it wants to replace the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War in 1953 with a permanent peace treaty while keeping its nuclear weapons.
Washington has consistently said that Pyongyang must abandon its nuclear arsenal for any peace treaty to be concluded.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is closely watching the situation and calls for "maximum restraint by both parties", UN associate spokesman Farhan Haq said at UN headquarters in New York. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
- Peter Foster in Beijing
Irish Independent
