The Patriot Files Forums  

Go Back   The Patriot Files Forums > Other Conflicts > Twenty First Century

Post New Thread  Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 11-11-2009, 06:32 AM
David's Avatar
David David is offline
Administrator
 

Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 46,798
Distinctions
Special Projects VOM Staff Contributor 
Default SKorea troops on high alert after navy skirmish

AP


SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea is ready to deter any retaliation by North Korea following the two countries' first naval clash in seven years, officials said Wednesday, as the top U.S. diplomat said the skirmish will not scuttle a planned visit to Pyongyang by an American envoy.

Tuesday's clash occurred hours before U.S. officials said President Barack Obama had decided to accept a North Korean invitation to send the envoy to Pyongyang for the first direct talks during his administration. The exchange of fire sparked speculation that the North was trying to foment tensions to gain a negotiating advantage.

The naval clash "does not in any way affect our decision" to send envoy Stephen Bosworth to Pyongyang, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in Singapore on Wednesday. "We think it is an important step that stands on its own."

Bosworth's trip is aimed at persuading communist North Korea to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament negotiations. North Korea walked away from those talks earlier this year.

Both sides blamed the other for Tuesday's two-minute clash in a rich crab-fishing area off the countries' west coast, where both sides regularly accuse the other of violating the disputed border.

South Korean officials said the North Korean ship was on fire and heavily damaged when it retreated. The South Korean ship was lightly damaged and there were no South Korean causalities, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

South Korea's mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper and other media reported that one North Korean officer was believed killed and three other sailors wounded.

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told the National Assembly on Tuesday that he believed the North may take retaliatory actions, saying President Lee Myung-bak "also has such concerns."

South Korea has detected no unusual North Korean troop movements but placed its 680,000-strong military — one of the world's largest — on heightened alert, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

It said the heightened posture meant having troops stay vigilant but that there were no additional deployments in border areas. South Korean ships did routine patrols along the sea border Wednesday, it said.

South Korea's presidential office said Wednesday it doesn't want ties with North Korea to deteriorate as a result of the skirmish, though the South was strengthening its security posture.

"We don't want it to be an obstacle to an improvement in South-North Korean ties," presidential spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye told reporters.

Relations between the two Koreas became badly frayed after Lee took office last year with a tough line on the North, which responded by cutting off ties and threatening war.

The situation further deteriorated following nuclear and missile tests by the North this year. Recently, however, North Korea has made a series of conciliatory gestures, such as releasing South Korean and American detainees and agreeing to resume joint projects with Seoul.

Yoon Deok-min, a professor at South Korea's state-run Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, said the North has a track record of making provocations ahead of important negotiations.

"It is aimed at extracting concessions from the U.S. by making it seem as if hawks are pitted against doves in Pyongyang ahead of negotiations," he said.

A naval skirmish in 1999 was presumed to have killed 30 North Korean sailors and sank their vessel, while no South Korean soldiers were killed. In 2002, six South Korean sailors died and their ship was sunk after a surprise attack by the North. The North's casualty count remains unknown.

The two Koreas remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War and the U.S., which fought on South Korea's side, has never had diplomatic relations with North Korea. The U.S. has about 28,500 troops in South Korea to deter possible North Korean aggression.

In Seoul, several hundred South Korean protesters gathered Wednesday to vent their anger at North Korea, burning two flags and pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
S. Korea, US troops on alert after North's threats David General Posts 0 05-28-2009 08:19 AM
SKorea army on alert after North's military threat David General Posts 0 01-18-2009 08:20 PM
Navy Proposing High-Tech Destroyer SparrowHawk62 Navy 5 10-04-2005 07:36 AM
Pace: Pentagon may have to alert more Guard, Reserve troops for Iraq thedrifter Marines 0 09-25-2003 05:13 AM
Border skirmish further strains U.S.-Syria relations thedrifter Marines 0 06-25-2003 05:06 AM

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:37 AM.


Powered by vBulletin, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.