09-151.pdf

North Korean gunboats sank the South Korean navy psychologicalwarfare
broadcasting ship I-2 around four miles off the nearest
northern land mass west of Yônp’yông Island and towed it into a
harbour. The ship’s task was to warn South Korean fishing boats
whether they were approaching the North’s territorial waters or not.
At the 302nd MAC meeting called by the KPA/CPV held on June 9, the
North asserted that the ship was an “armed spy ship” which, in spite
of warnings, had intruded into its waters and had opened fire on a few
North Korean patrol boats two-and-a-half miles from land. After
exchanges of fire, the “spy boat” was “completely destroyed and sank.”
The argument was that the incident had been prepared; South Korean
attack planes and naval artillery reportedly supported the “spy ship’s”
operation.
The UNC/MAC, which claimed that the ship was used for peaceful
purposes and conducting a normal operation, protested the
incident and the North’s version of it. It argued that it had shot in
self-defence and urged the immediate return of the 20-man crew, but
the KPA/CPV refused to provide any information at all. When the
North raised the incident at the 307th MAC meeting held on October
23, photos and materials from the boat were displayed but no data as
to whether the crew were alive or not were provided, in spite of the
South’s persistent requests. In 2007, the crew were still in detention.
The North again claimed that it was an armed spy vessel. The South
had violated the Armistice Agreement, Paragraph 15, requiring naval
forces to respect waters under the control of the opposing side, Paragraph
16 urging air forces to respect the airspace over the DMZ and
over the area controlled by the other side and, finally, Paragraph 17,
stating that the signatories of the armistice and their successors in
270 Peace-keeping in the Korean Peninsula