The Truth About the West Sea Battle

["ysk" <ysk@kimsoft.com>]

      The Truth About the West Sea Battle
      '60 South Korean Crab Ships crossed NLL  en masse'
      South Korean (Yongpyong-do) fishermen's confession

      Source: Digital Mal
(http://www.digitalmal.com/news/news_read.php?no=4587)


The idyllic calm of our tiny island (Yongpyong-do) was shattered by a sudden
influx of reporters, and now, there are more reporters than the islanders.
The reporters are not here to dig up the truth about the naval clash of June
29th, but to report on anticipated new clashes; they want the scoop on new,
more violent military crashes. They have mounted cameras around the island
with their eyes fixed at the sea.

It is not that these reporters have not heard our story but that our story
is of little interest to them.  They say that they know the truth about the
naval clash but they are not allowed to report it.

Photo: A North Korean warship being towed.  This picture is said to be taken
by a South Korean officer

I am a young crab fisherman based on this island.  The truth will hurt the
fishermen here and the South Korean navy.  The fishermen will lose their
means of livelihood because the navy will be more rigorous in preventing
them from fishing in areas north of NLL (Norther Line of Limits) and also,
the navy has to explain why it has covered up the truth.

The year 2002 saw two major events in South Korea: the World Cup 2002 and
the presidential election primary.  Yongpyiong-do is much smaller in size
than its neighboring Baikryong-do to the north but it is located closer to
North Korea.  The fishermen are under strict orders not to cross NLL.
Violators are punished severely - on paper.   The Seoul government wanted to
complete the World Cup and the primary without any disturbance and told us
to stay south of NLL.

Until recently we obeyed the order and managed to make a living fishing
south of NLL. But crab harvesting this year has been unusually poor and we
could not cover our expenses.  Just north of DLL, there are areas that team
with succulent crabs and a group of 60 or so of the island crab fishermen
got together and decided to break the law and fish north of NLL.  This they
did and this mass intrusion into the North Korean waters was the root cause
of the battle.

The South Korean navy had only six warships to manage more than 60 crab
boats in the Yongpyong-do area - an impossible task.  The following is a
summary of the events leading to the clash.

June 26: the southern warships were stationed along NLL as usual but some 60
crab ships made a coordinated run across NLL. There was no way they could be
stopped.  The fishermen were ordered to return to Yongpying-do by 10:00 and
report to the port authority or else.  The fishermen obeyed the order and
returned to the base by 10:00.  The fishermen held a meeting that evening.

June 27: the navy did not allow the fishermen to leave the port as
punishment for their action on the 26th.

June 28: the fishermen were allowed to leave the port after they swore that
they would stay south of the forbidden zone.  But at 08:00, the fishermen
entered the forbidden zone simultaneously on a prearranged signal.  The
fishermen ignored the navy order to leave the area immediately and began to
raid the rich crab habitats.

At 08:45, the navy warned the fishermen that a North Korean warship was on
the way.  The fishermen ignored this warning and kept on gathering crabs.

At 09:00, three more South Korean warships arrived at the scene.  Two of the
ships faced off the North Korean warship and four warship tried to herd the
fishing boats.

At 09:45, the navy ordered the fishermen to clear out the area immediately.

At 10:13, all fishing boats returned to south of NLL.

At 10:30, the North Korean war ship left and the naval confrontation ended.

On the evening, the fishermen met with the navy officers and got their
permission for limited fishing in the forbidden zone.

June 29:  at 06:00, the fishermen left the island. The navy radioed the
fishermen: "You guys went too far yesterday and pissed off the northerners.
We will let you go north today but wait until 08:00."

At 07:30, sixty or so of the crab boats could not wait until 08:00 and
crossed the line en mass. The navy was caught with its pants down. The area
is about 11 km from the nearest coast of North Korea. Seamen measure
distances in nautical miles, one nautical mile being 1.84 km.  Most of the
boats stopped at 3-4 nautical miles and began fishing, but about 10 boats
went about seven nautical miles - less than 4 nautical miles from the North
Korean mainland.

At 08:00, two navy vessels rushed over to herd back the fishing boats and
four other vessels were trying to help get the wayward fishermen back south
of NLL. However, the fishermen kept on fishing and the navy ships apparently
gave up.

At 08:45, two northern warship arrived at the scene post haste and began to
approach the fishing boats.

At 09:00, South Korean navy ordered the fishermen to leave the area at once

At 09:05, two South Korean warships steam north to face off the northern
ships.

At 09:13, north and south warships meet.  The southern ships ram the
northern warships at high speed in an effort to turn them back.

At 09:45, the warships exchange fire exactly as reported by the navy.

This incident could have been avoided if the fishermen had obeyed the navy
order to clear the area. I am a fisherman and we the fishermen of
Yongpyong-do caused this incident.  We were directly responsible for the
death of young men and loss of government properties.  Even when the
fighting was raging, about ten boats kept on fishing in the forbidden zone.
These fishermen shouted obscene epithets at the naval officers who tried to
get them out of the zone.

I was there and witnessed the whole event and my telling the truth may bring
retributions to me and to my fellow fishermen but I want the world to know
the truth.  I want those who are fanning the flame of war to know what has
really happened. I want our military to come clean and tell the whole truth.