ID :
102939
Wed, 01/27/2010 - 18:57
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/102939
The shortlink copeid
S. Korean cargo ship unharmed by N. Korean artillery: official
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- Artillery shells fired by the divided Koreas into
waters off their west coast on Wednesday did not endanger a South Korean cargo
vessel returning home from the North, an official here said.
The boat carrying silica from the North Korean port of Haeju did not enter either
of the two "no-sail zones" designated earlier this week by the communist state,
and was en route to South Korea, Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo
said.
"It is operating normally," she said, adding the two Koreas conducted their daily
communications on inter-Korean maritime crossings at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
"Routine information was shared, such as sailing plans and times," she said in a
briefing, affirming that nothing was unusual about the conversation. Another ship
transporting humanitarian aid to North Korea travels from South Korea once a week
but was not at sea on Wednesday, she added.
North Korea reportedly fired dozens of shells into the Yellow Sea in the morning,
raising already-high tensions after its navy engaged in a brief gunfight with
South Korean forces in November.
The North warned of an armed conflict with the South earlier this month over
reported contingency plans for a regime breakdown in Pyongyang, and its leader,
Kim Jong-il, was seen days later in official reports inspecting a joint drill of
the army, navy and air force.
South Korea has imported North Korean sand since the historic first inter-Korean
summit in 2000. But import restrictions were recently strengthened amid
suspicions that profits from sand shipments could end up in the pockets of the
North Korean military.
The western sea border, also known as the Northern Limit Line, is one of the
major flashpoints between the Koreas, which remain technically at war after the
1950-53 Korean War ended without a formal peace treaty.
Drawn by a U.S. commander of U.N. forces that fought on the South Korean side in
the war, it has served as a de facto border, but North Korea has refused to
formally recognize it and declared part of the area south of it a "peacetime
firing zone" late last year.
(END)
waters off their west coast on Wednesday did not endanger a South Korean cargo
vessel returning home from the North, an official here said.
The boat carrying silica from the North Korean port of Haeju did not enter either
of the two "no-sail zones" designated earlier this week by the communist state,
and was en route to South Korea, Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo
said.
"It is operating normally," she said, adding the two Koreas conducted their daily
communications on inter-Korean maritime crossings at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
"Routine information was shared, such as sailing plans and times," she said in a
briefing, affirming that nothing was unusual about the conversation. Another ship
transporting humanitarian aid to North Korea travels from South Korea once a week
but was not at sea on Wednesday, she added.
North Korea reportedly fired dozens of shells into the Yellow Sea in the morning,
raising already-high tensions after its navy engaged in a brief gunfight with
South Korean forces in November.
The North warned of an armed conflict with the South earlier this month over
reported contingency plans for a regime breakdown in Pyongyang, and its leader,
Kim Jong-il, was seen days later in official reports inspecting a joint drill of
the army, navy and air force.
South Korea has imported North Korean sand since the historic first inter-Korean
summit in 2000. But import restrictions were recently strengthened amid
suspicions that profits from sand shipments could end up in the pockets of the
North Korean military.
The western sea border, also known as the Northern Limit Line, is one of the
major flashpoints between the Koreas, which remain technically at war after the
1950-53 Korean War ended without a formal peace treaty.
Drawn by a U.S. commander of U.N. forces that fought on the South Korean side in
the war, it has served as a de facto border, but North Korea has refused to
formally recognize it and declared part of the area south of it a "peacetime
firing zone" late last year.
(END)
