Navies of 2 Koreas exchange fire

[unhappycamper]

Navies of 2 Koreas exchange fire
By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press Writer
Nov 10, 4:38 AM EST

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- The two Koreas briefly exchanged naval fire Tuesday along their disputed western sea border, with a North Korean ship suffering heavy damage before retreating, South Korean military officials said.

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 clash - the first of its in kind in seven years - occurred as U.S. officials said President Barack 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 it would be the first one-on-one talks since Obama took office in January. Obama is due in Seoul next week.

"It's a regrettable incident," South Korean Commodore Lee Ki-sik told reporters in Seoul. "We are sternly protesting to North Korea and urging it to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents."

North Korea's military issued a statement blaming South Korea for the "grave armed provocation," saying its ships crossed into North Korean territory.


Rest of article at: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_KOREAS_NAVAL_CLASH?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-11-10-03-45-28

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Some water color in the disputed areas might help one navy from

disturbing the other navy's water.