S.Korea Says 4 Killed, 18 Hurt in Clash with North

[Mike Davino <mdavino@yahoo.com>]

It looks like things are heating up between the two
Koreas again:

S.Korea Says 4 Killed, 18 Hurt in Clash with North 
Sat Jun 29,12:30 AM ET 

SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) - Four South Korean navy
personnel were killed and 18 wounded in an exchange of
fire with North Korean navy ships near their western
sea border on Saturday, the South Korean defense
ministry said in a statement. 

  
Two North Korean patrol ships briefly crossed the
disputed maritime border -- the so-called Northern
Limit Line -- 25 miles west of Yeonpyongdo, an island
off the west coast of the Korean peninsula, a defense
ministry spokesman said. 

One of the North Korean vessels was engulfed in fire,
the ministry statement said. 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020629/wl_nm/korea_north_south_dc_4

A later report from Reuters also says the ROK Navy had
a ship sunk.  I think that the north Koreans have been
waiting for a chance to avenge the losses they
suffered in the so-called "Crab Wars" in the West Sea
during 1999.  Those clashes also were in June and in
the vicinty of Yeonpyongdo.  

We'll see how many protests there will be against the
US in the next few weeks now that the Koreans have had
a reminder of what the regime in the north is capable
of.  The smart citizens of the ROK know that the DPRK
is their real enemy and the leaders of the ROK
government will be less tolerant of anti-US incidents.
  

Mike Davino  



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