North, South Korea have naval skirmish

[Turborama]

Source: Reuters

The two Koreas have had a naval skirmish in Yellow Sea waters off their west coast but there were no casualties, the South’s Yonhap news agency reported.

The incident comes just ahead of a visit to Asia by U.S. President Barack Obama, with Pyongyang seeking direct talks with his administration and increasing regional tension by saying in recent days it had produced more arms-grade plutonium.

“A North Korean patrol ship crossed the Northern Limit Line and did not cease when we fired warning shots,” Yonhap cited a South Korean defence source as saying.

Military officials could not immediately confirm the reports.

The two Koreas have fought two deadly naval battles in the past decade in the Yellow Sea waters near the contested sea border called the Northern Limit Line.

Read more: http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2009/11/09/north-south-korea-have-naval-skirmish-report.aspx

[Arrowhead2k1]

1. Just a friendly reminder that the Korean War never concluded. nt

[izquierdista]

2. Maybe a Nobel Peace Prize winner could fix that.....

Just thinking out loud.

[amerstates]

3. That is a joke, right?

All talk, no action obama.

[izquierdista]

6. That depends

Is the Nobel Peace Prize winner all action, or just a joke?

[proteus_lives]

5. Yep, that shit has been on pause for over fifty years.

Sooner or later, they will have to play it through or take the DVD out of the player.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

4. The North Koreans would have fired back but.

Their ammunition budget was cut to pay for Kim Jong Il's cognac.

[cali]

7. Navies of 2 Koreas exchange fire near border

Source: AP


AP

SEOUL, South Korea – A badly damaged North Korean patrol ship retreated in flames Tuesday after a skirmish with a South Korean naval vessel along their disputed western coast, South Korean officials said.

The first naval clash in seven years broke out just a week before President Barack Obama is due to visit Seoul, raising suspicions the North's communist regime is trying to rachet up tensions to gain a negotiating advantage.

There were no South Korean casualties, the country's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties on the North Korean side. Each side blamed the other for violating the sea border.

The exchange of fire occurred as U.S. officials said Obama has decided to send a special envoy to Pyongyang for rare direct talks on the communist country's nuclear weapons program. No date has been set, but the talks would be the first one-on-one negotiations since Obama took office in January.

"It was an intentional provocation by North Korea to draw attention ahead of Obama's trip," said Shin Yul, a political science professor at Seoul's Myongji University.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091110/ap_on_re_as/as_koreas_naval_clash

[JonQ]

8. I wonder how this will be portrayed in the North

US lead naval invasion of the glorious peoples republic heroically fended off by lone ship, showing once again the brilliance and resolve of our glorious leader.

[Dreamer Tatum]

10. Maybe the greatest naval victory for N. Korea since they sank our Pacific Fleet in 2002

God only knows what their textbooks say.

[Cirque du So-What]

9. Sabre-rattling with live rounds

Kim's bellicosity knows no bounds. (I'm a poet & didn't even know it!)