S. Korean Troops Kill 3 Northern Infiltrators

Three North Koreans were shot and killed by Southern forces today as a massive manhunt continued for Northern infiltrators whose submarine ran aground, setting off the bloodiest espionage drama in recent years between the two Koreas.

On Wednesday, 11 North Koreans were found dead onshore and one was captured as 50,000 South Korean security forces combed the nation’s eastern coast for several other infiltrators reported at large by Lee Kang Soo, a captured submarine crew member.

The Korean Broadcasting System quoted witnesses as saying that five or six men in military uniforms had come ashore.

It is not known what the crew’s mission was, but some speculated the men had been sent to rescue a Pyongyang agent.

South Korean forces sealed off a rugged, isolated village area near the eastern city of Kangnung and, when they sighted three guerrillas trying to escape today, reportedly ordered them to surrender. When the North Koreans refused and opened fire, Southern forces shot them, according to South Korean news reports.

South Korean officials suspect that 10 of the infiltrators found slain Wednesday were shot by one of their comrades, who then turned the gun on himself. Their bodies were clad in jeans and sneakers. Other reports, however, speculated that the military commandos who escaped onshore had killed the crew members to avoid being slowed down by them.

Lee, 31, told his interrogators that the submarine left North Korea on Monday, developed engine trouble in the Sea of Japan and drifted into southern waters, according to South Korean media reports. The submarine also may have hit a rock after dropping off the infiltrators near Kangnung.

“This incident is not a simple North Korean infiltration of armed guerrillas into the South. There is no other way to regard it but as a military provocation,” said South Korean President Kim Young Sam.

Officials said the incident violated the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War. The agreement governs the cease-fire between the two nations, which are still technically at war.

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The grounded submarine was first sighted early Wednesday by a cab driver. Two hours later, the huge manhunt--with helicopters, roadblocks and dogs--was underway.

After authorities imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the area, two North Koreans burst into a village home and stole food and cigarettes from the owner at gunpoint, state radio reported. Later, security forces exchanged gunfire with two infiltrators near an airport serving Kangnung, according to television news reports. The skirmish lasted for about 15 minutes but the two managed to evade capture.

Authorities said guns, ammunition, canned food, air force clothing--and a letter pledging loyalty to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il--were found aboard the 330-ton, 111-foot submarine. It was described as a Sang-o class craft, a Yugoslavian model that carries a crew of about 20 and is built of plastic materials to escape electronic detection. North Korea is said to have 10 such subs.

The incident marked North Korea’s 310th espionage attempt since 1970, defense officials in Seoul reported. In July, a Seoul University history professor disguising himself as a Filipino admitted to spying for North Korea over the past decade, while another spy was captured and his companion killed in a clash with security forces in the southern city of Puyo in October.

South Koreans expressed shock that Pyongyang--reportedly reeling from devastating floods and severe shortages of food, fuel and hard currency--would engage in any outside provocations. “They are crazy,” said Kim Jin Ok, a Seoul homemaker. “Their people are starving and yet they sent a submarine?”

Kim Yong Ho, a researcher with the National Unification Center, said North Korea may have dispatched the armed spies to quell mounting public discontent over food shortages by creating tension with the South. He also said Pyongyang hard-liners may have been aiming to silence moderates within the regime and to persuade the United States to bypass Seoul and agree to direct peace negotiations.

Pyongyang has long lobbied for a direct peace treaty with the United States to replace the current armistice agreement governed by the United Nations--the main reason the regime has deliberately violated it countless times, according to analysts.

Chi Jung Nam of The Times’ Seoul Bureau contributed to this report.