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DPRK demands South Korea apologize for clash

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-10 16:36

PYONGYANG: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday demanded South Korea apologize for a naval clash earlier in the day, said a report issued by the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army.

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The report said the South Korean military authorities should "make an apology" to the DPRK and "take responsible measures against the recurrence of a similar provocation," the official news agency KCNA said.

The report called the clash an "armed provocation" and said it was "perpetrated by the South Korean forces" in the waters of "the north side" off the west coast of the peninsula, but refrained from mentioning whether there were any casualties.

According to the report's version of the clash, the DPRK cleared a navy patrol boat, which was "on routine guard", to go to confirm an unidentified object that "intruded into the waters of its side." When the patrol boat was returning after confirming the object at about 11:20 a.m., "a group of South Korean warship forces chased and fired at it."

Some international media said the clash took place near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), which was set unilaterally by the U.S.-led UN forces at the end of the Korean War, but regarded as invalid by the DPRK.

The DPRK and South Korea have clashed near the NLL area twice previously, in June 1999 and November 2004.