SEOUL, June 4�North and South Korea became embroiled in a maritime dispute justhours after a team of military negotiators signed a historic agreement toreduce tensions along their common border, while a fresh group of NorthKoreans has succeeded in defecting in Beijing, RFA's Korean servicereports.
Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) accused South Koreaof sending navy ships into North Korean waters to drive away fishing boatsof the Communist state earlier Friday.
"The South Korean army Friday committed such military provocations asthreatening peaceable fishing boats of the North side by illegallyinfiltrating warships deep into the territorial waters of the North side inthe West Sea," KCNA quoted military sources as saying.
"At around 08:50 Friday the South Korean army infiltrated three warshipsdeep into the territorial waters [and] repeatedly threatened over aloudspeaker peaceable fishing boats of the North side in their normalfishing operation that it would fire at them if they did not go back," theagency said.
Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff office rejected the allegations, saying thatNorth Korean vessels had violated South Korean terroritial waters.
The war of words erupted shortly after the two sides took a big step towardseasing tensions, agreeing on a range of measures to prevent border clashesand deciding to stop propaganda broadcasts.
The measures reflected a thaw between the armed forces of the countries,which are technically still at war, and included ways to avoid accidentalclashes in the disputed western sea border. Naval skirmishes in the fishinggrounds off the western coast during the May-June crab season have in pastyears disrupted rapprochement in the region.
Measures included setting up a telephone hotline, sharing a radiofrequency, using joint signaling systems and exchanging information onillicit fishing in the area from June 15.
The Northern Limit Line, drawn up by U.S.-led allies at the end of the1950-53 Korean War, has been a source of naval disputes in the West Sea asNorth Korea has never recognized the de facto maritime border.
At the latest high-level military talks, the North repeated a demand toredraw the disputed sea border before backing down as the South flatlyrejected the demand, Seoul officials said.
The two sides also agreed to ease tensions along their 248-km (154-mile)land border by mid-August, stopping loudspeaker broadcasts, anddismantling propaganda signboards aimed at promoting defections.
Earlier in the week, five North Koreans sought political asylum at theGerman Embassy after climbing the walls of a German government school inthe Chinese capital.
Pharmaceutical plant worker Rhee Pil-sung, farm worker Rhee Kyu-cheol,factory worker Yun Byung-han, farm propaganda worker Kim Soon-ok, the onlyfemale, and Chang Myong-kyu, a miner, had been admitted to the GermanEmbassy after scaling the walls of the school in the early hours of Tuesdaymorning, German doctor and activist Norbert Vollertsen was quoted by AgenceFrance-Presse as saying.
Vollertsen said the operation Tuesday was coordinated by a "Mr. Moon" andan American NGO. "We expect them to be released to South Korea soon," saidVollertsen, a doctor who was expelled in December 2000 from North Korea forpublicly denouncing the regime.
As many as 300,000 North Koreans are believed to live in hiding in China,where they frequently suffer abuse and exploitation.
Under a U.N. refugee convention, China is obliged to not force defectorsback to North Korea, where they face punishment, torture, and humiliation,according to human rights observers. The punishment for defecting is threeyears in a labor camp and can lead to torture and execution, both for thedefectors and their families. #####