SEOUL: South Korean officials say a North Korean patrol boat crossed the countries' disputed sea border, prompting a naval vessel from the South to fire warning shots. The North Korean ship then opened fire.
The brief encounter left the South Korean patrol boat peppered with holes, and the North's vessel ablaze and apparently badly damaged.
Officials in Seoul say the incident was unusual in that the North's boat persisted in sailing deeper into Southern-controlled waters, even after the South Koreans fired warning shots.
"We sent warning messages to them twice before they crossed [the demarcation line] and three times after they crossed it," Brigadier General Lee Ki-sik of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff explained at a news briefing in Seoul.
The Northern boat replied by firing directly at the other boat, and the battle ensued. Seoul says none of its sailors was injured, but it's not clear whether there were casualties on the other side.
After being set afire, the Northern vessel turned away and headed toward home.
This was the first incident between naval vessels of the two Koreas in the Yellow Sea for seven years.
The last clash, in 2002, involved bigger ships and cost the lives of six crewmen of a South Korean frigate, which was sunk, and an estimated 13 North Koreans.
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