SEOUL: The two Koreas briefly exchanged naval fire Tuesday along their disputed western sea border, with a North Korean ship suffering heavy damage before retreating, South Korean military officials said.
There were no South Korean casualties, the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties on the North Korean side. Each side blamed the other for violating the sea border.
The clash — the first of its in kind in seven years — occurred as US officials said President Barack Obama has decided to send a special envoy to Pyongyang for rare direct talks on the communist country’s nuclear weapons program. Obama is due in Seoul next week.
North Korea’s military issued a statement blaming South Korea for the “grave armed provocation,” saying its ships crossed into North Korean territory.
The North claimed that a group of South Korean warships opened fire but fled after the North’s patrol boat dealt “a prompt retaliatory blow.”
The statement, carried on the official Korean Central News Agency, said the South should apologize.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who convened an emergency security meeting, ordered his defense minister to strengthen military readiness.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that a North Korean patrol boat crossed the disputed western sea border around 11:27 a.m. (0227 GMT), drawing warning shots from a South Korean navy vessel. The North Korean boat then opened fire and the South’s ship returned fire before the North’s vessel sailed back toward its waters, the statement said.
The clash occurred near the South-held island of Daecheong, about 220 kilometers off the port city of Incheon, west of Seoul, the statement said.
The North Korean ship was seriously damaged in the skirmish, a Joint Chiefs of Staff officer said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy. Prime Minister Chung Un-chan told lawmakers the ship was enveloped in flames when it fled north, according to Yonhap news agency.
The shooting lasted for about two minutes, during which the South Korean ship fired 50 rounds from naval guns at the North Korean vessel, about 3.2 kilometers away.
Several Chinese fishing boats were operating in the area at the time of clash, but they were undamaged. It wasn’t clear if the North Korean ship was trying to clamp down on the Chinese boat for possible poaching.
