North Korean warship intrudes into South
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A North Korean navy patrol boat has crossed into South Korean waters and stayed almost one hour before retreating, further fuelling military tensions after Pyongyang's nuclear test last week.
A Seoul minister said Pyongyang's recent aggressive moves are probably motivated by leader Kim Jong-Il's desire to bolster his authority before handing over power to one of his sons.
Since the May 25 atomic test the North has launched six short-range missiles, renounced the truce which ended the 1950-1953 Korean War and threatened attacks on the South.
South Korean and US troops in the peninsula have gone on heightened alert. Seoul has deployed a high-speed patrol boat armed with ship-to-ship missiles near the disputed Yellow Sea border with the North, the scene of bloody clashes in 1999 and 2002.
The boat crossed the Yellow Sea border and stayed for 50 minutes before retreating to its own side after three warnings from South Korean craft, Seoul's joint chiefs of staff said.
A spokesman said it apparently was chasing Chinese boats that were operating illegally in the rich crab fishing area, but did not exclude the possibility it was a planned intrusion to raise tensions further.
About 70 of some 90 Chinese fishing boats withdrew overnight from the area, Yonhap news agency said.
Unification Minister Hyun In-Taek, who is in charge of cross-border relations, said the 67-year-old leader may be "accelerating a procedure to transfer power to his son due to his worsening health."
-AFP
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