N.K. patrol boat retreats after standoff

A North Korean patrol boat crossed into South Korean waters yesterday and retreated after a standoff that lasted nearly an hour near their western sea border, officials said.

South Korea summoned a destroyer and its own patrol boats operating nearby following the intrusion, Joint Chiefs of Staff officials in Seoul said, but no clash erupted between the sides.

The intrusion took place at 2:47 p.m. about 12 km off the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, near which naval skirmishes turned deadly between the countries in 1999 and 2002, the officials said.

The North Korean boat returned to the North`s side at 3:38 p.m. after repeated warnings by South Korean naval forces guarding the Northern Limit Line, the officials said.

"The North Korean boat reached 1.6 kilometers into the South Korean side," an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It appears the boat trespassed over the border while chasing Chinese fishing boats that were illegally operating."

But the official did not rule out the possibility that North Korea had deliberately sent the vessel to raise tension in the West Sea.

The standoff came after dozens of Chinese fishing boats withdrew from the northern part of the West Sea along the inter-Korean maritime border Wednesday night, putting South Korean authorities on alert over possible military provocations by North Korea.

About 70 of the 90 Chinese fishing boats operating near the Northern Limit Line disappeared overnight, according to the South Korean navy, coast guards and residents of nearby islands.

The vessels may have pulled out as blue crab fishing is restricted in the area starting from June 15. But considering that some 380 Chinese fishing boats were operating in the same region a year ago despite the South Korean ban on fishing, the sudden withdrawal was unusual enough to grab attention.

Unlike South Korea, China and North Korea do not ban fishing in certain areas on a regular basis.

South Korean authorities, therefore, began analyzing the possibility that the Chinese vessels may have voluntarily pulled out amidst rising inter-Korean naval tensions or that they left under orders by the Chinese government.

"All Chinese fishing boats had disappeared shortly before the two deadly naval clashes (between the two Koreas in 1999 and 2002)," said a resident of Yeonpyeong Island near the NLL.

Chinese fishing vessels operating along the NLL near Yeonpyeong Island suddenly vanished from sight in early February and showed up again around April 20.

Their number once topped 200 but began to decrease last week after Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test on May 25, followed by multiple short-range missile tests.

North Korea also warned that it would not guarantee the safety of South Korean navy and civilian ships operating along the disputed maritime border, in angry response to Seoul`s joining of a U.S.-led naval campaign against arms trade among "rogue states."

"We will not guarantee the legal status of the five islands under the south side`s control (Paengnyong, Taechong, Sochong, Yeonpyeong and U islands) in our side`s territorial waters northwest of the extension of the Military Demarcation Line in the West Sea of Korea and safe sailing of warships of the U.S. imperialist aggression forces and the South Korean puppet navy and civilian ships operating in the waters around there," the North`s permanent military mission to the joint security area said in a statement last week.

Pyongyang sees Seoul`s membership of the Proliferation Security Initiative as a breach of the Korean War armistice which bans any attempt at naval blockade in the region.

South Korea will not refrain from launching a fleet of advanced fighter jets to retaliate against North Korea if the communist neighbor provokes an armed conflict along their western sea border, its Air Force said Wednesday.

The NLL was drawn by a U.S. commander at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce, and North Korea has repeatedly said that it should be drawn further south.

The South Korean Air Force said in a release it would respond "promptly and sternly" with its fighter jets if North Korea attempted another attack.

"F-15Ks will lead the operation if North Korea makes an armed provocation along the NLL," it said, adding KF-16s, F-4s and F-5s will also be deployed.

South Korea currently operates two squadrons of F-15K, variants of U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles, according to the Air Force. They carry up to 10 tons of weapons, about twice the amount mounted on other fighter jets operated by South Korea.

Their weapons include radar-guided anti-ship SLAM-ER missiles that have a maximum range of 270 kilometers, according to the Air Force.

(sophie@heraldm.com)By Kim So-hyun and news reports