 South Korean trucks enter North Korea through the Dorasan Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Office in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday, amid soaring tension on the Korean Peninsula over the March 26 sinking of the South’s Navy vessel Cheonan. / Korea Times |
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff reporter
A North Korean cargo ship approaching South Korea's western waters was turned away Tuesday after a radio warning radio from the South Korean Navy, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday.
The move came a day after President Lee Myung-bak announced a set of measures to punish North Korea, which is being held responsible for the March 26 sinking of the South Korean Navy frigate Cheonan in the West Sea. He said North Korean commercial vessels would not be allowed to enter South Korean waters.
Minister of National Defense Kim Tae-young also pledged any North Korean ship entering South Korean waters would be forced to move out of the area.
The Navy has dispatched a 4,500-ton KDX-II destroyer to the straits between the southern island of Jeju and the mainland to block the entry of North Korean vessels.
"We sent a warning message to a North Korean vessel approaching our sea lane in the West Sea via radio," Jang Kwang-il, deputy minister for policy, told reporters. "The ship then left the sea lane."
Meanwhile, intelligence and military authorities revealed that four North Korean Sango-class submarines had disappeared from their home port in the East Sea on May 24.
The authorities are tracking the location of the submarines, an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
"It is quite rare for four North Korean submarines to disappear at one time," the official said. "We're closely tracking and monitoring the subs' routes by mobilizing all possible intelligence and surveillance assets."
The submarines left a base near a missile launch pad site in North Hamgyong Province on the east coast, according to the official.
North Korea is reported to have a fleet of 70 submarines ― 20 1,800-ton Romeo class, 40 300-ton Sango class and 10 midget subs.
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