A North Korean cargo ship discharges sand at a port in Incheon, Monday, in the first commercial shipping exchange between the two Koreas since last week’s naval skirmish in the West Sea. / Korea Times Photo by Ryu Hyo-jin |
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
A North Korean vessel discharged sand at a South Korean port, Monday, the first commercial shipping exchange between the countries after last week's naval skirmish in the West Sea.
The Incheon Port Authority (IPA) said that North Korea's 1,296-ton cargo ship ``Geumbit,'' which means the color of gold in Korean, had docked and unloaded 1,765 tons of silica.
The vessel entered South Korean waters Friday but failed to meet its original schedule because the port was full.
The ship returned home later in the day.
``Over the last two months, three ships, including Geumbit, have used the South Korean port in order to deliver silica,'' an IPA official said.
Sand is one of the most in-demand materials in South Korea to fuel the nation's construction industry.
Last year, the trade volume of sand, the secretive state's largest export item to the South, was valued at about $73.4 million.
The Ministry of Unification has recently strengthened the monitoring of trade in the material given the South's reliance on supplies from outside the country.
A ministry official said South Korean ships have also headed to the North without any restrictions.
``The cargo liner Trade Fortune went to the North on Nov. 10 on schedule,'' she said, asking not to be named.
The official reiterated the government's stance that it will not ``artificially'' adjust exchange and cooperative programs between the two Koreas.
On Nov. 10, the South and North Korean navies exchanged gunfire for the first time in seven years, with no casualties reported by the South Korean navy. A North Korean patrol boat that reportedly crossed the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto border, retreated in flames after a brief firefight.
The reclusive state claimed that the South ``deliberately'' began the clash and vowed to take ``merciless'' military measures to defend its sea border.
The incident was the third naval skirmish between the two countries following those in 1999 and 2002.
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