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North Korean Merchant Ship Crosses NLL Again

Posted June. 14, 2001 15:55,   

한국어

Despite the government’s warning that force would be used if North Korean merchant ship crosses the Northern Limit Line (NLL) again, a North Korean merchant ship crossed the NLL and headed toward the open sea after having sailed about 20 hours inside the military operational waters. The Join Chief of Staff Headquarters (JCSH) announced yesterday that the North Korean merchant ship ``Nampo II`` (2,437t) crossed the NLL in the East Sea 35 miles east of Jeojin port around 11:45 pm Wednesday. The `Nampo II` was met by the ROK Navy vessel `Mokpo`, which escorted it onto the open seas sailing 5nm inside South Korean waters, and headed toward the south at the end of the NLL yesterday. The North Korean merchant ship loaded with 1,200t of zinc plate and a 33-member crew was heading to Singapore.

An JCSH official said that ``as `Nampo II` crossed the NLL, the ROK Navy vessel `Mokpo` approached it and carried out the radio interrogation. No action was taken against `Nampo II`, since it responded to the radio interrogation and changed its course toward the outside East Sea.`` This official added that ``although the ROK Navy vessel requested `Nampo II` to sail toward the north of the NLL many times, it responded that it would change course toward south at the end of the NLL due to the lack of oil.`` However, the opposition party and the critics within the military criticized by saying that the ROK Navy took a lukewarm measure and allowed the crossing of the military operational waters tacitly. Rep. Lee Yeon-Sook and other members of the Grand National Party thoroughly inquired at the Defense Committee of the National Assembly saying that ``the government warned that it would use force if the North Korean ship crosses the NLL and South Korean sea again. How could the government fail to prevent the North Korean merchant ship from crossing the NLL again?``



Lee Chol-Hi klimt@donga.com