S.Korea coast guard on 1st rescue mission in North
20 Jan 2005 06:26:28 GMT
Source: Reuters
SEOUL, Jan 20 (Reuters) - South Korea's coast guard launched an
unprecedented search and rescue operation in North Korean waters on
Thursday after Pyongyang gave the mission the green light,
government and rescue officials said.
A South Korean cargo vessel with 18 crew members on board was
believed to have sunk in bad weather in the East Sea, also known as
the Sea of Japan, coast guard officials said.
Four of the crew members had been picked up by a passing Russian
vessel but the remaining 14 were missing, the officials said.
The ship is thought to have sunk some 160 nautical miles northeast
of the fortified border dividing the Korean peninsula.
North Korea gave the South Korean vessel permission to enter its
waters just hours after Seoul made the request on Thursday morning,
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hong-jae said.
"Our request and the North's go-ahead went and came very smoothly,"
Kim told Reuters.
A 5,000-tonne rescue vessel carrying a helicopter was on its way to
the area, crossing the maritime border, rescue officials
said.
Weather conditions remained poor, they added.
South and North Korea remain technically at war because the 1950-53
Korean War was suspended under a truce and not a peace
treaty.
Clashes in seas off the west coast between the two navies in recent
years have killed dozens of sailors on both sides and injured many
others.
Talks between the two Koreas' militaries aimed at reducing tension
began last year but remain suspended.
While there have been a gradual easing of tension in political and
commercial ties, military tension remains high on the
peninsula.
With close to 1.2 million troops, North Korea is the world's most
militarised country relative to population. South Korea has close
to 700,000 soldiers.