ID :
89022
Wed, 11/11/2009 - 07:08
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/89022
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U.S. warns N. Korea not to escalate tensions in Korean Peninsula: White House
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- The United States warned North Korea not to escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula following a brief naval clash in the Yellow Sea earlier Tuesday.
"I would say to the North Koreans that we hope that there will be no further
actions in the Yellow Sea that could be seen as an escalation," White House
spokesman Robert Gibbs said aboard Air Force One en route Fort Hood, Texas, where
President Barack Obama is attending a funeral for the victims of a shooting
rampage.
The naval skirmish took place midday when a North Korean patrol boat entered
South Korean waters and ignored warning shots, the South Korean military said.
The two-minute exchange of fire forced the North Korean vessel to retreat in
flames.
There were no South Korean casualties.
Similar skirmishes in 1999 and 2002 caused dozens of casualties. North Korea has
long tried to defy the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto sea border drawn by the
United Nations Command after the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The clash comes just one week before Obama is scheduled to visit Seoul. He and
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will discuss how to persuade North Korea to
come back to the six-party talks on ending its nuclear weapons programs and other
issues of mutual and regional concern.
The North's intrusion is seen by some as an attempt to attract the U.S. attention
ahead of Obama's Asian trip, which begins Thursday. Others disagree.
"The North Korean skirmish is more likely related to North Korea's renewed
efforts to press its claims to redelineating the Northern Limit Line rather than
as a signal related to President Obama's trip or renewed U.S.-North Korean
bilateral dialogue," said Bruce Klingner, a senior fellow at the Heritage
Foundation. "The excursion by only one North Korean ship suggests it was a
continuation of tactical-level naval probing rather than a strategic message by
Kim Jong-il."
Scott Snyder, director for the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy at the Asia
Foundation, said, "I don't see the firefight as having much significance for
U.S.-DPRK interaction. It really is an issue that is much more likely to be
significant in inter-Korean relations."
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- The United States warned North Korea not to escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula following a brief naval clash in the Yellow Sea earlier Tuesday.
"I would say to the North Koreans that we hope that there will be no further
actions in the Yellow Sea that could be seen as an escalation," White House
spokesman Robert Gibbs said aboard Air Force One en route Fort Hood, Texas, where
President Barack Obama is attending a funeral for the victims of a shooting
rampage.
The naval skirmish took place midday when a North Korean patrol boat entered
South Korean waters and ignored warning shots, the South Korean military said.
The two-minute exchange of fire forced the North Korean vessel to retreat in
flames.
There were no South Korean casualties.
Similar skirmishes in 1999 and 2002 caused dozens of casualties. North Korea has
long tried to defy the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto sea border drawn by the
United Nations Command after the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The clash comes just one week before Obama is scheduled to visit Seoul. He and
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will discuss how to persuade North Korea to
come back to the six-party talks on ending its nuclear weapons programs and other
issues of mutual and regional concern.
The North's intrusion is seen by some as an attempt to attract the U.S. attention
ahead of Obama's Asian trip, which begins Thursday. Others disagree.
"The North Korean skirmish is more likely related to North Korea's renewed
efforts to press its claims to redelineating the Northern Limit Line rather than
as a signal related to President Obama's trip or renewed U.S.-North Korean
bilateral dialogue," said Bruce Klingner, a senior fellow at the Heritage
Foundation. "The excursion by only one North Korean ship suggests it was a
continuation of tactical-level naval probing rather than a strategic message by
Kim Jong-il."
Scott Snyder, director for the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy at the Asia
Foundation, said, "I don't see the firefight as having much significance for
U.S.-DPRK interaction. It really is an issue that is much more likely to be
significant in inter-Korean relations."
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
