09-151.pdf

clumsy and collided with the North Korean cannon vessel and sank.
All the crew but one died. The Suwon-ho 33 was immediately captured
and “espionage equipment” was destroyed. The boat was immediately
brought to a port in the North. 218
This incident caused widespread public demonstrations in
South Korea, above all in Pusan, Inch’ôn, from where the boats had
departed, and Seoul. The North Korean’s inhuman behaviour was
strongly condemned. In Seoul, it was considered the general opinion
that the North Korean version contained several contradictions. How
the Suwon-ho 32 was sunk and why the reportedly innocent crew of
the Suwon-ho 33 was not returned had not been convincingly
explained. When the issue was raised at the South-North Coordinating
Committee talks in Panmunjom on February 27, South Korea urged
North Korea to confess its responsibility for the incident and
apologize, immediately return the fishermen and the Suwon-ho 33,
pay compensation for the damage caused and to the survivors, punish
those responsible for the intermezzo and, finally, guarantee that such
an incident would not re-occur.
North Korea refused to meet these demands. Instead, it urged
confessions and apologies from South Korea. Following arguments on
procedural issues, the 348th MAC meeting called by the UNC/MAC
was held on February 28. The South protested the attack against the
two fishing boats, criticized the killing of innocent fishermen and the
kidnappings as inhuman acts and, finally, urged a return of the survivor
and the Suwon-ho 33. The North did not answer the UNC/MAC
218_ Åhslund, Särskild rapport: Bilaga 1 (n. p., February 25, 1974), pp. 1-3. Original
quotation marks.
North-South Dialogue and Tension during the 1970s
277