ID :
138453
Fri, 08/20/2010 - 08:41
Auther :

S. Korea renews call for N. Korea to release detained fishermen

SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea said its Red Cross sent North Korea on Friday another message calling for the release of the seven crew members of a fishing boat that Pyongyang had seized earlier this month in the East Sea.

The 41-ton South Korean boat carrying four South Koreans and three Chinese
disappeared Aug. 8 while en route to a joint fishing area off the east coast of
the Korean Peninsula.
Pyongyang confirmed Thursday it was holding the ship for questioning, claiming
the Daeseung trespassed into its exclusive economic zone. The seizure came amid
high tension between the Koreas over the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship
near their western sea border in March.
"As the North has notified us of its seizure of the Daeseung, our Red Cross just
now sent a message to North Korea at 10:00 a.m." through a western military hot
line, Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said in a briefing.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)

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