North Korea Seizes Ship From South
North Korea seized a South Korean relief ship, accused its crew of spying and canceled talks with the South on food aid and other issues, South Korean officials said today.
The South Korean crew was accused of photographing facilities in the east coast port of Chongjin.
Maritime officials in Seoul identified the ship as the 9,367-ton freighter Venus, which sailed with 20 crew members to Chongjin on Aug. 1 with 5,000 tons of rice.
Under an accord reached in June, South Korea has shipped about 70,000 tons of a promised 150,000 tons of free rice to the impoverished North.
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