South Korea holds memorial service for sailors
Draped with flags, the coffins of four South Korean sailors killed in a sea battle with North Korea were carried past weeping relatives and servicemen at a funeral service in Seoul today.
‘‘That can’t be my husband,’’ wailed one widow, whose husband was among the dead. ‘‘He will come back if I go home and wait.’’
North Korea has refused South Korean demands for an apology after Saturday’s clash, saying the maritime border where it took place is illegal.
South Korea said the North suffered about 30 casualties in the fight, but it was impossible to verify the claim. The western sea border was calm today.
‘‘Your spirit will live forever in our hearts and in this country and the sea,’’ Admiral Chang Chung-kil, chief of naval operations, said in a tribute to the dead sailors.
The fight broke out after two North Korean patrol boats, which were accompanying fishing vessels, crossed the sea border and one opened fire after ignoring warnings to retreat, South Korean officials said.
North Korea, however, accused Southern boats of provoking the battle by entering communist territory.
The skirmish was a setback to South Korean President Kim Dae-jung’s ‘‘sunshine’’ policy of trying to engage the isolated North.
But despite the tension, both sides were willing to maintain some contacts.
A day after the sea skirmish, North Korea congratulated South Korea on its success in co-hosting the World Cup, the North’s state media said.
South Korea’s Unification Minister, Jeong Se-hyun, said non-governmental contacts with North Korea will continue.
‘‘We will proceed with civilian exchanges and cooperation while doing our best to guarantee our people’s safety,’’ he said.
South Korean Defence Minister Kim Dong-shin was today meeting General Leon LaPorte, who commands the 37,000 US troops stationed in South Korea.
In 1999, a series of border violations by North Korean ships touched off the first naval clash between the two Koreas since the Korean War.
The dispute centres on the Northern Limit Line, a maritime border that was drawn up by the US-led UN Command to avert possible clashes after the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
North Korea never accepted the line, and Southern officials say communist boats have repeatedly violated the border over the years.
