The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 73/No. 45      November 23, 2009

 
North Korean patrol boat is
fired on in unprovoked attack
(front page)
 
BY SAM MANUEL  
South Korean warships fired on a North Korean patrol boat along the western sea border November 10. The U.S.-backed South Korean government placed its military on alert.

There is no dispute that the South Korean warships initiated the attack. South Korea's prime minister, Chung Un-chan, told South Korea's YTN television that the North Korean vessel had unintentionally violated South Korean waters. The South Korean military fired warning shots at it. When the North Korean ship returned fire it was directly fired on by South Korean ships, according to a statement by the South Korean military.

A statement by the North Korean military said its patrol boat was attacked after it had been instructed to cross into South Korean waters to investigate an unidentified object near the North's side. The statement said the North Korean boat was attacked as it was returning to the North.

Seoul's main daily Chosun Ilbo reported that one North Korean navy officer was believed to have been killed and three sailors wounded. The South Korean military said in a statement that it could not confirm any North Korean casualties.

Traveling with President Barack Obama aboard Air Force One, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs blamed the North Korean government for the incident. In the meantime the South Korean government placed its 680,000-strong military on alert, even though there were no signs of unusual North Korean troop movements, according to the South Korean military.

The U.S. military maintains a garrison force of some 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, but declined to comment on whether they had also been placed on alert. David Oten, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Seoul, said it does not comment on operational or security issues, Associated Press reported.

At the end of World War II Washington imposed the partition of Korea and has forcibly maintained it for six decades. The Democratic Party administration of President Harry Truman organized an imperialist invasion of Korea in 1950, with the U.S. invaders using the United Nations blue helmets as cover. Following its defeat in that war the U.S. government signed a cease-fire agreement but has declined numerous offers from North Korea for a peace agreement.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home