09-151.pdf

North Korea admitted that it had sunk the ship in retaliation and then
rescued some survivors.
The UNC/MAC blamed the North for the incident and claimed
that the ship was a 30-year-old lightly-armed former minesweeper
used to prevent South Korean fishing boats from entering North
Korea’s territorial waters. Patrolling was necessary due to the February
15 incident. No armistice violation had taken place. Later, it became
clear that the ship had been sunk in North Korea’s territorial waters.
South Korea claimed that a North Korean sea officer had drowned and
offered to return the corpse, but since the North denied that anyone
was missing, it refused the offer. On July 2, a South Korean patrol boat
sank a North Korean “espionage vessel” in international waters south
of the peninsula. The vessel had opened fire when it was discovered in
South Korean territorial waters. One South Korean seaman was killed
and three were wounded. The patrol boat then followed the vessel and
sank it about 32 kilometres south of the south coast. South Korea
claimed that infiltrators would be disembarked on some island off the
south coast. North Korea denied any knowledge and regarded the
incident as fabricated.
On July 20, a South Korean patrol boat discovered an “espionage
vessel” off the South’s west coast. When the vessel was requested to
identify itself, it opened fire and escaped west-wards. The patrol boat
followed the vessel, captured it in international waters and brought it
into Inch’ôn port. Five men from the crew were found dead and radar
equipment, rubber boats and weapons were discovered. North Korea
denied any knowledge and refused to receive the corpses. At the 353rd
MAC meeting proposed by the KPA/CPV held on August 12, the
North accused the South of claiming on two occasions that it had sunk
North-South Dialogue and Tension during the 1970s
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