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North Korea seizes South fishing boat amid naval exercise
North Korea has seized a South Korean fishing boat off the peninsula's east coast, according to Seoul's coastguard, amid high tensions between the two sides over a major naval exercise by the South.
Published: 4:51PM BST 08 Aug 2010
A South Korean Marine looks at the sea through a pair of binoculars during a military exercise on Baengyeongdo Photo: REUTERS
The boat with four South Korean and three Chinese crewmen was detained while presumably operating near the North's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) the coastguard said in a statement. It was being towed Sunday to the North's northeastern port of Songjin.
"We urge North Korean authorities to handle this case in accordance with international norms and practices and return the ship and the crew at the earliest possible date," the coastguard said. The seizure was reported on the fourth day of the five-day exercise in the Yellow Sea on the other side of the peninsula.
The drill has stirred anger and threats of retaliation from the North. Cross-border relations have been strained since South Korea and the United States, citing findings of a multinational investigation, accused the North of torpedoing a South Korean warship in March.
The North denies involvement in the sinking and has threatened retaliation for what it calls a provocative drill staged in response to the sinking. The exercise, which involves 4,500 troops, 29 ships and 50 fighter jets, is one of a series planned in coming months – some of them with South Korea's ally the United States – in a show of strength against the North.
