YONHAP NEWS

(8th LD) Koreas clash in Yellow Sea, raise tension ahead of Obama trip

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- North and South Korea collided Tuesday in their first naval engagement in seven years, raising tension as U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to visit the Asian region next week and calibrate steps to deal with Pyongyang.

The North Korean Navy had exchanged gunfire with its South Korean counterpart in 1999 and 2002 near the Yellow Sea border that extends from the tense Demilitarized Zone separating the two countries.

North Korea disputes the de facto maritime border known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL), which was drawn by a U.S. general at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a truce.

   According to Joint Chiefs of Staff officials in Seoul, a North Korean patrol boat crossed the NLL at 11:27 a.m. and attacked a South Korean one after ignoring several warning shots.

   The South Korean side suffered no casualties in the clash that erupted shortly after the crossing and lasted about two minutes, R. Adm. Lee Ki-shik told reporters here.

   "This is a regrettable incident in which the North directly aimed at the South. We protest sternly," Lee said, adding about 15 of 50 rounds fired by the North landed on the South Korean boat.

   The naval boats were a little over 3 kilometers away from each other when they exchanged fire, Lee added.

   South Korean officials said their side retaliated by firing back about 200 rounds with guns aboard the naval ship, which they say is more modernized than its North Korean counterpart.

   The officials declined to give an assessment on North Korean casualties, but South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-chan told lawmakers in a televised parliamentary session that the North Korean vessel returned "wrapped in flames."

   In the two previous skirmishes, South Korea's Navy had estimated dozens of North Koreans were killed. Six South Korean sailors were killed in 2002.

   North Korea disputed the South Korean accounting of the latest skirmish, claiming the South sent a "group of warships" across the border to attack its boat returning to port after a routine patrol.

   The "combat-ready" North Korean patrol boat "lost no time to deal a prompt retaliatory blow at the provokers," the Korean People's Army said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

   Chung, the South's prime minister, said the clash was "accidental," while a Unification Ministry official dismissed speculation it would dampen exchanges between the two countries.

   "There are no restrictive measures, such as minimizing the number of visitors to the North and other artificial control measures, under consideration," Chun Hae-sung said.

   President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency security meeting, calling on the military to "react decisively, yet calmly to make sure the situation does not further deteriorate," Lee Dong-kwan, a presidential aide, said in a release.

   South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said in a parliamentary session that "no additional moves" by the North Korean military were detected north of the heavily armed border.

   South Korean analysts gave mixed views about North Korea's possible motive behind the incident, which took place only a week ahead of an Asian trip by U.S. President Barack Obama.

   "It appears to be a move to raise tension ahead of Obama's visit to South Korea," said Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea professor at Korea University in Seoul. "North Koreans believe tension helps them strengthen their bargaining power."

   Ryu Gil-jae, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, disagreed, saying the incident appeared aimed at testing the South Korean government.

   "North Korea would have test-fired missiles if it had wanted to vex the U.S.," he said. "The Yellow Sea clash is more of a message to the South that it should be taken more seriously."

   The clash came amid an accelerating thaw between the Koreas, whose relations turned frosty following the inauguration of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak early last year.

   It also came as French President Nicolas Sarkozy's special North Korea envoy was in the communist state for talks with its foreign minister on "matters of mutual concern," according to the KCNA.

   Slapped with sanctions for its May nuclear test, North Korea has in recent months extended peace overtures to the outside world, while South Korean media speculated the two Koreas were working secretly to set up summit talks.

   Kang Sung-yoon, a North Korea specialist at Seoul's Dongguk University, said the North Korean attack on the South appears to serve more than one purpose.

   "It could be aimed at pressuring both the U.S. and South Korea to engage in dialogue with Pyongyang more seriously," he said while warning against reaching a quick conclusion on the motive.

   "Details regarding the incident should be looked at to understand what the North Korean intent really was," he said.

   samkim@yna.co.kr
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