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New S. Korean defense chief honors sailors killed in N. Korea clash
SEOUL, March 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's new defense minister on Saturday paid his respects to six sailors killed in action during a firefight with North Korea in the Yellow Sea in 2002.
The visit to the memorial at 2nd Fleet headquarters in Pyeongtaek, located some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, was the first by a South Korean defense minister since the incident took place.
There have been four different defense ministers since the June 29 clash, which occurred while South Korea was hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup. However, the liberal administrations of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun had downplayed the threat from the communist country, drawing fire from conservatives who accused them of appeasement.
Political watchers have been predicting that the South's North Korea policy will change with the administration of new conservative President Lee Myung-bak, who was sworn in earlier this week.
In addition to visiting the memorial, the defense chief inspected the emergency readiness of the fleet and its sailors.
Six of the 27 sailors onboard a South Korean boat patrolling the Northern Limit Line (NLL) were killed in 2002 when it was "ambushed" by North Korean vessels. Several other South and North Korean warships also took part in the 25-minute clash, which sunk the South Korean boat and considerably damaged one North Korean boat.
The NLL has been an ongoing source of tension between the two countries, as the North has never officially recognized the maritime border that was unilaterally drawn by United Nations forces at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The 2002 clash followed a firefight that broke out in 1999, in which a North Korean gunboat was sunk. Although that clash caused a considerable number of causalities for North Korea, no South Korean sailors were killed.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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