SEOUL, South Korea — In a move that could agitate already-tense relations on a divided peninsula, North Korea seized a South Korean fishing boat Sunday after it had apparently sailed into an East Sea zone that the North views as its own.
The boat, carrying seven people, was being held by North Korean authorities, the South’s coast guard said in a statement.
The incident comes at a time of fierce dispute between the North and South, reflected most recently as the South conducted military drills in the Yellow Sea, to the west. North Korea had threatened to counter the drills with “strong physical retaliation.” The South’s five-day drills end today.
The current tensions between the North and South date to the March torpedoing of the Cheonan warship, which killed 46 South Korean sailors. A subsequent investigation blamed the North for the sinking, but Pyongyang has denied any involvement.
The fishing boat, known as the Daeseung, was carrying four South Koreans and three Chinese. China is North Korea’s chief ally.
“We have found out that our fishing vessel is being investigated by North Korean officials in the presumed North Korea exclusive economic waters in northern East Sea,” the South Korean coast guard said in a statement. “The South Korean government, according to international law, wants … swift resolution to the matter and the safe return of its vessel and its fishermen.”
