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S. Korean fishing boat seized by Norks
SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean fishing vessel carrying four passengers was seized Thursday morning by a North Korean patrol boat after straying across the East Sea border, officials said. The 29-ton South Korean boat named "800" is still moving northward, a defense ministry official in Seoul said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity."The satellite navigation system on the boat appears to have malfunctioned," the official said, adding it crossed about seven miles into North Korean waters when it was seized around 6:30 a.m. The fishing boat departed the port of Geojin on the eastern coast at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday and sailed past the Northern Limit Line as far as 20 miles off the port of Jejin, he said. The fishing boat was scheduled to return to its port Friday morning. "We are pushing for its release," the official said, adding South Korean authorities have sent a message calling on North Korea to immediately return the ship "for humanitarian reasons." North Korea has yet to respond, the official said. Posted by: Steve White 2009-07-30 |
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