Background: Nutty North Korea silent on fate of South Korean fishing boat crewNorth Korea today confirmed it seized a South Korean fishing boat nearly two weeks ago, according to the Yonhap and Xinhua news agencies.
The 41-ton boat called 'Daeseung 55' went missing on August 8 while en-route to a joint fishing area between North and South Korea off the coast of the Korean Peninsula. It was carrying four South Korean and three Chinese crew members.
The North Korean state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday for the first time confirmed that it had seized the ship, but said it was seized on August 10 and not August 8.
"According to our initial investigation, the ship was carrying four South Korean and three Chinese crewmembers, and their testimonies have shown that their ship had violated our exclusive economic zone," the KCNA report said, according to Yonhap.
Tensions between the two Koreas are continuing to rise since a March attack against a South Korean ship, which killed dozens of sailors. A South Korean-led international investigation concluded that North Korea was behind the attack, but North Korea continues to deny any involvement.
In June, Beijing took a public swipe at Pyongyang after North Korean border guards shot and killed three Chinese suspected of smuggling and wounded a fourth. North Korea apologized and told China it would punish those responsible.
On August 9, North Korea fired at least 100 rounds of artillery into its side of the Yellow Sea. It happened just after the end of U.S.-South Korean naval drills in a show of force against Pyongyang, a move that was strongly condemned by North Korea on numerous occasions.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry said the drills were 'dangerous provocations to ignite a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula.'
"These war maneuvers are a wanton violation of the Armistice Agreement and diametrically run counter to the presidential statement of the UNSC dated July 9, 2010 which calls for settling the pending issues on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and negotiations in a peaceful manner," the spokesman said.
"Such ceaseless military provocations being perpetrated in utter disregard of the concern of the international community about the tensions running high in the Korean Peninsula and the region go to clearly prove that the U.S. is, indeed, the arch criminal threatening and wrecking the global peace and security. The warmongers are so reckless as to dig their own graves," he added.
The spokesman said North Korea is ready for both dialogue and war and said it has means and methods to defend itself. "
The U.S. and South Korea are currently holding a joint military exercise, the second inside a month, angering both Pyongyang and China. They also plan to conduct an anti-submarine warfare exercise next month, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
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