ID :
72992
Thu, 07/30/2009 - 20:43
Auther :

Pyongyang says `will check` into South Korean boat incident

(ATTN: UPDATES with details, Seoul expecting Pyongyang's response within hours)
SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said it will look into the seizure of a
South Korean fishing vessel and get back to Seoul, South Korea's Unification
Ministry said Thursday.
"They said, 'We received (the South Korean message). We will check the
situation,'" ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said.
The 29-ton boat named "800," carrying four crewmembers, was taken by a North
Korean patrol boat early Thursday morning after it strayed into North Korean
territory in the East Sea. Officials said the squid boat appeared to have
experienced a malfunction in its satellite navigation system.
Seoul immediately sent a phone and fax message to Pyongyang through an
inter-Korean maritime communication line to call for the immediate release of the
crew and their boat. The North's response was later received through the same
communication line, Seoul officials said.
The two Koreas hold telephone contacts twice a day, once in the morning and once
in the afternoon, under a 2004 maritime agreement that allows non-commercial
boats to cross either side of the border.
"They said they will see what happened and get back to us," a ministry official
who spoke with his North Korean counterpart in Pyongyang said, requesting
anonymity due to protocol.
Another ministry official who oversees cases involving such seizures said he
expected North Korea to get back to the South by "this morning" to say how it
would handle the incident.
Fishing boats often stray across the inter-Korean border, but they are
customarily released on humanitarian grounds after a brief inquiry of a week or
two. The two Koreas have no legal accords to handle such incidents, ministry
officials say.
Two North Korean boats accidentally strayed into South Korean waters earlier this
year, and both were promptly released, they said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)

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