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Reporting from Seoul -
A North Korean naval ship suffered heavy damage Tuesday during an exchange of gunfire between the two Koreas along a disputed sea border off their western coasts, officials said.
Several news agencies in Seoul reported that one North Korean was killed and three were injured. The North Korean vessel reportedly turned and headed for port after the clash.
The North Korean vessel crossed a demarcation line into southern waters about 10:30 a.m., prompting a South Korean warship to fire several warning shots, according to a news release from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"There are no casualties on our side. We are fully prepared for any further provocation from North Korea," the statement said.
A South Korean naval officer told Yonhap news service that heavy black smoke was seen on the horizon and that the northern vessel was heavily damaged.
"It wasn't a close-range battle. We fired heavily on the North Korean vessel," the officer said, declining to be identified because the information was preliminary.
"It is our initial assessment that the North Korean boat suffered considerable damage."
Navies from the two sides, which have technically remained at war since the cessation of hostilities in the 1950-53 civil war, have fought deadly sea battles in recent years.
In 2002, six South Korean soldiers died and several others were wounded in a similar exchange.
Tensions between the Koreas have risen since the South elected conservative President Lee Myung-bak, who has taken a hard-line stand on negotiations with Northern leader Kim Jong Il.
This year, the North has test-fired numerous short- and long-range missiles as well as an underground nuclear device, bringing condemnation from the United Nations.
In Tuesday's exchange, the North Korean vessel returned fire but missed, the South Korean report said.
Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday blamed Seoul for what it called a "grave armed provocation perpetrated by the South Korean forces in the waters of the north side" of the demarcation line.
Citing an North Korean Army report, the news agency said the North had dispatched a patrol boat for a routine investigation of "an unidentified object that intruded into the waters of its side." The boat was soon fired upon by a group of South Korean warships, the report said.
"The patrol boat of the north side, which has been always combat-ready, lost no time to deal a prompt retaliatory blow at the provokers," the report said.
In the Yonhap report, however, the South Korean naval official said: "We are analyzing the motive for the North Korean boat's crossing. "We do not rule out the possibility that the clash may have been accidental."
One analyst said it was conceivable that North Korea intended to send a message ahead of President Obama's Asia visit, which begins Thursday.
"Given the fact that it did not move back despite warning calls, North Korea might have wanted to show Obama that the Korean peninsula is still unstable by provoking tensions," said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Dongguk University.
john.glionna@latimes.com
Ju-min Park of The Times' Seoul Bureau contributed to this report.
Several news agencies in Seoul reported that one North Korean was killed and three were injured. The North Korean vessel reportedly turned and headed for port after the clash.
The North Korean vessel crossed a demarcation line into southern waters about 10:30 a.m., prompting a South Korean warship to fire several warning shots, according to a news release from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"There are no casualties on our side. We are fully prepared for any further provocation from North Korea," the statement said.
A South Korean naval officer told Yonhap news service that heavy black smoke was seen on the horizon and that the northern vessel was heavily damaged.
"It wasn't a close-range battle. We fired heavily on the North Korean vessel," the officer said, declining to be identified because the information was preliminary.
"It is our initial assessment that the North Korean boat suffered considerable damage."
Navies from the two sides, which have technically remained at war since the cessation of hostilities in the 1950-53 civil war, have fought deadly sea battles in recent years.
In 2002, six South Korean soldiers died and several others were wounded in a similar exchange.
Tensions between the Koreas have risen since the South elected conservative President Lee Myung-bak, who has taken a hard-line stand on negotiations with Northern leader Kim Jong Il.
This year, the North has test-fired numerous short- and long-range missiles as well as an underground nuclear device, bringing condemnation from the United Nations.
In Tuesday's exchange, the North Korean vessel returned fire but missed, the South Korean report said.
Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday blamed Seoul for what it called a "grave armed provocation perpetrated by the South Korean forces in the waters of the north side" of the demarcation line.
Citing an North Korean Army report, the news agency said the North had dispatched a patrol boat for a routine investigation of "an unidentified object that intruded into the waters of its side." The boat was soon fired upon by a group of South Korean warships, the report said.
"The patrol boat of the north side, which has been always combat-ready, lost no time to deal a prompt retaliatory blow at the provokers," the report said.
In the Yonhap report, however, the South Korean naval official said: "We are analyzing the motive for the North Korean boat's crossing. "We do not rule out the possibility that the clash may have been accidental."
One analyst said it was conceivable that North Korea intended to send a message ahead of President Obama's Asia visit, which begins Thursday.
"Given the fact that it did not move back despite warning calls, North Korea might have wanted to show Obama that the Korean peninsula is still unstable by provoking tensions," said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Dongguk University.
john.glionna@latimes.com
Ju-min Park of The Times' Seoul Bureau contributed to this report.
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