Brink of war in south Korea: Suh-Hae-Kyo-Jun (West Sea Battle) Yonpyong Island, south Korea, June 29, 2002
On June 29, 2002, near the Yonpyong Island off the coast of south Korea, Suh-Hae-Kyo-Jun (West Sea Battle) took place between south and north Korean naval vessels, resulting in numerous casualties on both sides and bringing military tension to the Korean peninsula.
The incident took place when 60 south Korean crab boats crossed NLL (Northern Limit Line) and began harvesting crabs in north Korean water.
The emotionally charged responses from the conservative politicians and the hard-liners in the south Korean military strained the inter-Korean dialogue, and their reckless comments created a tense situation that almost brought south Korea to the brink of war. --Trans
1) Suh-Hae-Kyo-Jun (West Sea Battle), ‘critical factors’ we cannot ignore
by Kim Jong-Dae, Military expert *
2) Suh-Hae-Kyo-Jun (West Sea Battle), Who is responsible?
by Kim Seowon, Standing Researcher, Korean People's Rights Research Center (affiliated with Solidarity for Practice of South-North Joint Declaration) *
3) Personal testimony by Yonpyong Chong-Gak (Young Unmarried Man from Yonpyong) (south Korea) *
1) Suh-Hae-Kyo-Jun (West Sea Battle), ‘critical factors’ we cannot ignoreby Kim Jong-Dae, Military expert
Seeking a rational management to the crisis-Many commentaries are given by so called experts and analysts on this Suh-Hae-Kyo-Jun.
Politicians are trying to utilize the issue for the upcoming presidential election in south Korea.
Most of the debates are focused on whether we should take a hard line or soft line in response to the situation.
Before we debate on which line of the response we should take up, we must figure out the intentions of north Korea. Without this, we cannot respond rationally to this political crisis; the emotional and superficial response will bring more chaos.
The debate in the National Assembly on the day of the naval clash-
The leading opposition party, Hanaradang members criticized the lack of immediate military response that includes the deployment of naval carriers and fighter jets to the clash. They said the south Korean military should have responded swiftly in spite of the possibility of another Korean War.
Clear viewpoint of peace-
What is the rational approach to the crisis-
We had many incidents in which we responded irrationally.
At the time of the north Korean leader, Kim, Il-Sung’s death, some politicians debated whether we should treat him as a war criminal or not, instead of focusing our attention on the effect of his death on the whole Korean peninsula, or the relations between the North and South and North/South/US.
We understand that the Office of the Joint Chief of Staff has developed a special compilation that lists 230 types of the crisis indicators.
When the crisis take place, the south Korean military should have come up with a clear assessment of the crisis based on these indicators, so the politicians cannot manipulate this issue for their political benefits.
Importance of managing surrounding countries-
We should especially give attention to the conservative US media.
CNN and other major US media claimed the West-Sea exchange was a major crisis that will affect the dialogue between US/north Korea, south Korea/north Korea.
Even though the party who has to manage this crisis is the South Korean government and its people, the US media has taken a step even further than the official US government’s position on this issue, bringing instability and tension to the Korean peninsula.
Resolve the crisis from the point of restraining war-
Clearly we must realize the West Sea has been the source of potential confrontation between north and south for many years. Although the south Korean government held to the NLL [trans-Northern Limit Line extending west of the peninsula to form a sea boundary between the two Koreas: it was unilaterally drawn by the UN naval commander in 1953; thus it was not a part of the armistice agreement], the North hasn’t abided it.
Unless the south and the north resolve the issue of NLL, the root of the problem will remain.
If the steps toward the resolution are hindered by the mistrust between the south and the north, we should seek assistance from the international mediators such as the UN or the European nations.
Pay attention to the lessons from the history-
Historically the major world confrontations started from accidental conflicts at the sea.
When the German U-boat sank the US merchant ship, the incident led to the escalation of the WWII, and the attack on the US intelligence ship at the Gulf of Tonkin flamed the Vietnam War.
Too often the conflicts at sea are very difficult to get the truth on the matter and on many occasions the facts have been manipulated and have been used by the war waging nations.
The troubling NLL issue is not new; the fact is no longer a secret that many instances south Korean ships transgressed the border.
Historically the NLL was unilaterally declared by the UN forces, and considering the weak north Korean naval forces at the time of the declaration, the real purpose of the NLL was to prevent border transgression by south Korean ships.
In the case of the south Korean Naval Operation Guidelines and the Battle Rules and Regulations, there have been a lot of debate whether or not it had been strictly followed through, when the three North Korean merchant ships passed the coast of Cheju island June of 2001.
The operation guidelines and the battle rules and regulations are established to prevent the escalation of the war; thus it is unproductive to debate whether the navy has strictly followed these guidelines.
Previously the war expansionists in south Korea had been using this type of argument in security debates.
Because of this, when such a conflict arises the south Korean government must employ sophisticated crisis management to restrain and prevent war.
And to do so, they must operate a precise crisis response program prepared by the Joint Chief of Staff.
In March of 1997, Joint Chief of Staff and the US-SK Commands jointly published ’12 Response Scenarios for the North Korean limited war provocation’. When north/south conflict arises, we must refer to this manual and we must establish basic framework for the peaceful operation of water area and work for the joint development of the West Sea resources with north Korea. To do so, we must engage in a dialogue with the north and start the negotiation.
[Due to the mounting internal pressure the National Defense Ministry and the Joint Chiefs of Staff of south Korea issued the new operations guidelines allowing the navy to shoot first, after as little as a single warning round, at enemy ships in south Korean waters. According to the guidelines, the south Korean Army, Navy and Air Force will be alerted immediately upon detection of a violation of the Northern Limit Line and the first step for the navy will be to block and push the intruder back north, without using guns; second is the firing of warning shots, followed by firing shots directly aimed at the enemy ship--Trans]
2) Suh-Hae-Kyo-Jun (West Sea Battle), Who is responsible?by Kim Seowon, Standing Researcher, Korean People's Rights Research Center (affiliated with Solidarity for Practice of South-North Joint Declaration)
Tension rises near the end of the World Cup-Cold water was splashed over the last game the SK team was to play in the World Cup. (Korea-Turkey)
So called the provocation the south Korean media and the government claimed, the ‘first shot’ was fired by the north Korean Navy near the NLL on the West Sea.
Frenzy media reported the citizens were shocked by the incident prior to the World Cup quarterfinal game.
Yunhap News quoted the statement supposedly made by the officer of the ‘Red-Devil’, stating that it is quite regrettable to see that such a provocation has taken place during the World Cup, which became the festival of the people of the world.
Was it really a North Korea’s ‘first strike’ provocation as heralded by South Korean media? If it is true, what were their motives? Do we need to believe at face value what South Korean media have reported?
‘Was it a revenge for the West Sea clash near the Yonpyong island’? [The incident took place in June 15th of 1999, when NK navy received heavy damage during the exchange--Trans]
North Korean military is very political. What I mean by political is that the every military move has a political intention.
If indeed the North Korean military made a ‘first strike’, what was their political motive? What did they want to accomplish?
Firstly, professor Ko, Yoo-Hwan of Dong-Kuk University claimed that this incident was intentionally orchestrated as a part of ‘restoration of the name sake’ from the June 15th,1999, Yonpyong island battle (Yunhap News) and Professor Ryu, Kil-Jae of the North Korean graduate study program of the Kyung-Nam University made a some what similar remark, that this recent attack was a revenge by the North Korea(Hankyereh Newspaper).
These are one-dimensional analyses, because it is too obvious that north Korea would not make such a highly risky provocation as a part of it’s revenge plan.
Since 9.11, in the name of war against the terrorism, the US has been mounting a great pressure on the north that includes the possibility of ‘first strike’.
Although we heard a special US envoy is due to visit the north in near future, considering the fact that DPRK and the US are still under the state of the armistice, one must remember that without establishing a concrete framework of peace, the war can revisit us. Thus under this circumstance, the north would not take a course of provocation that would give a definite excuse for the US to launch an attack on the North.
Tension, heightened intentionally by the North?
Presently the North/South relationship is standstill, partly due to the reckless remark made by SK foreign minister, the US’s hard-line approach to north and their war plan.
Despite this circumstance the nongovernmental exchanges are still taking place, and as Professor Ko has mentioned the north wants improvement of north/south relations.
Considering these factors, it is highly unlikely that the north Korean military intentionally heightened the tension.
To damage the atmosphere of the World Cup?
On the other hand, some media commentators stated that the West Sea battle was orchestrated by the north to damage the atmosphere of the World Cup in South Korea.
However, we know that the north has been broadcasting the World Cup games when south Korean team played and also the north praised the south Korean Team for making it into the 8 team round. Therefore, it is unlikely that the north wanted to damage the atmosphere of the World Cup in south; if this was their intention, they would have made the move in the beginning of the World Cup games. In sum, nothing is to be gained by the north from these actions.
The root of NLL (Northern Limit Line)
During the Korean War, the US artificially drew the ‘Clark Line’, a naval blockade targeting China and the north Korea; however the ‘Clark Line’ was abolished during the armistice negotiation because of the UN general assembly’s veto on this US proposition.
However even after the armistice agreement was signed, SK’s Rhee, Sung-Man government and the military made numerous provocations up until 1955 claiming he was attempting to reunify Korea.
This has worried the US who wanted to maintain the state of the armistice. Despite the US concerns and pressure, the Rhee government continued the same policy which prompted the US to come up with a secret plan that included arrest and or elimination of Rhee, a coup d'état, a threat of withdrawal of US troops, and dissolution of the South Korean government, etc.
During this chaotic period, the US came up with NLL to contain SK provocation to the North.
As the name implies, if it were to contain NK’s provocation to the South the name of the line should have been SLL(Southern Limit Line).
Because of this origin, the North never recognized the NLL.
Previously the SK crab fishing boats have crossed the NLL, escorted by SK navy patrol vessels and vice versa. Both sides have given tacit consent on the crossing of NLL by the fishing boats in the past.
South Korean Navy may have ignited North Korean provocation?
Some speculate the involvement of US in the West Sea clash.
Unlike before, why did the SK Navy threaten the North on June 29, which prompted NK’s response?
As SK military’s operational command control is under the US/UN command, and as the unilateral NLL was specifically drawn by the US, the area of the West Sea NLL receives special attention and regulation from the US military.
If indeed that there is no gain, reason, or political justification for the north to provoke the south, we can think of the possibility that the South is the one who initiated the provocation or tacit complicity between South Korean military and the US.
To prevent the Soccer fever from turning into Reunifications fever..
Red color swept the streets. The Red Devil member or not, everyone wore the red t-shirts and all shouted ‘Dae-Han-Min-Kook’, and ‘Oh! Pill-Sung-Korea’ and we became one.
It was a month where we who suffered through the 1997 IMF crisis felt the victory and the one-ness. Of course some of us were concerned that the World Cup sport was a tool of US and other cold war reactionaries to maintain public ignorance.
However to the contrary, the people did not become an ignorant mass; instead they were actively engaged in series of actions that brought worries from the cold-war reactionaries and the US.
At the Italy-south Korea match, ‘AGAIN 1966’ was a part of the card-section. This was nothing less than reminding ourselves that north Korea had beaten Italy in the 1966 World Cup and in so doing we recognized our brothers and sisters in north.
And at the Korea-Germany match, waving a flag with a blue colored Korean Peninsula (Symbol of Reunification) instead of the south Korean flag, proposed by the Tong-Il Yun-Dae (Reunification Solidarity) and accepted by the Red-Devil, was not realized due to the opposition by the FIFA.[Trans- Federation of International Football Association, the governing body of the World Cup]
These incidents tell us that the peoples soccer fever was about to translate to Reunification fever just prior to the upcoming September friendship soccer game between north and south Korea. A conjecture can be made that US and the anti-Reunification forces needed an incident to throw cold water on soccer fever.
A series of the incidents broke which flamed the Anti-US sentiment among the people.
The Anti-US sentiment that was propelled by Bush’s ‘Axis of Evil’ and the ‘Ono incident’ at the Winter Olympic [Due to the US judge’s unfair calling, the south Korean ice skater lost the gold medal to the US player, Ono--Trans] which seemed to have diminished, came back at the World Cup soccer games.
When the US-Korea soccer match ended in a tie, many Koreans were irritated and enraged, and when the Korea-Portugal game was played, the Koreans wished for a tie between Korea--Portugal so that the US would not advance to 16 team round.
Another incident took place that further contributed to Anti-US sentiment. Two junior high school girls were killed by a US armored vehicle that was a part of US military exercise convoy.
When the news broke, the young people who were the main soccer cheering force became enraged and some of them joined the protest. Even junior high and high school students were enraged and denounced the incident.
Adding salt to injury, two reporters who were investigating the incidents were tied with chains, handcuffed and led way by US soldiers.
At the right moment and opportunity the Korean people who were united through the soccer victory could have easily turned toward to the main Anti-US forces.
And when such a situation was about to take place, the powers that be in SK and US may have sought to utilize the typical Anti-North Korea propaganda.
Japan aims to become a military superpower and the ‘First Strike’ from US
Some people project that the West Sea incident is a prelude to a Korean peninsular war crisis.
Recently Japan signaled the possibility of having a nuclear weapons, bluntly suggesting its intention of becoming a new military superpower.
When the West-Sea incident took place Japan took this opportunity to advocate for the need of rearmament. The Japanese Self-Defense force announced that it would intensify information gathering and readiness at the Japan-Korea border.
Considering the incident took place not in the East Sea but in the West Sea, they are overreacting to the incident.
One of most serious consequences is that a UN force will reevaluate their previous battle rules and regulations. It was warning-warning fire-threatening fire-destroy fire order, but now the military is debating to change it to first-destroy-fire when the first-strike is perceived.
Why is it so similar to the Bush’s first-strike doctrine? When it is apparent that his first-strike doctrine will not work against the Iraq, is Bush trying to see if it’s workable in the West Sea?
3) Personal testimony by Yonpyong Chong-Gak (south Korea)
[The testimony was sent to the south Korean radio personality, Shin, Hae-Chul’s web site by the man identified himself as a Yonpyong Chong-Gak (Young Unmarried Man from Yonpyong Island)]As I was listening to the radio program yesterday, I gained some courage….
So here I send my letter!!
On this quiet island, there are more press people than islanders….
These reporters do not seem to be interested in the truth, but act more like they want to see yet another battle to take place; they have placed cameras all over the island and passed the night fully awake with shining eyes.
Again today, I spoke with the reporter….
He said he knew the truth…
But he cannot reveal it!!
I am a young Yonpyong island crab fisherman!!
If the truth is revealed….
A great blow will be faced by the local fishermen and also the naval authorities!!
The fisherman will face even greater fishing restrictions….
The military authority has to answer for their attempted concealment!!
For those citizens who are trying to take this into the arena of a political fighting…
I want to reveal the truth behind the Yonpyong battle!!
In Year 2002, there are two big events!!
Firstly, a global festival, the World Cup!!
Secondly, a presidential election…!!
Although Bakryung Island is located north of the Yonpyong Island, Yonpyong is closest to north Korea!!
Thus when the operation permit was granted to fishermen in early spring, the local authority also issued an order prohibiting their traffic across the border to the north along with other legal measures that were designed to control the fishing boats’ movement!!
The navy’s intention was to successfully conclude two big events in 2002 without provoking north Korea!!
In the beginning the local fishermen joined the call and conducted safe fishing…
But this has been a year of bad harvest!!
The end of the crab-fishing season came near and the crab harvest was unsatisfactory…
The north [ has the good harvest]!!
Yes, as crabs are everywhere north of the NLL(Northern Limit Line), the fishermen became edgy.
60 local crab fishermen banded together and crossed the NLL…thus the West Sea incident took place!!
6 high speed south Korean naval vessels can not control 60 crab fishing boats!!
Here is the summary!!
June 26th: As in the past, south Korean naval vessels lined themselves along the NLL to control the fishing boats; however the 60 local crab fishing boats secretly planned to cross over the NLL at the same time…
Since it was apparent that the situation was out of control, the south Korean naval fleet commanding office ordered the mandatory withdrawal of these fishing boats; by 10 o’clock, all 60 fishing boats returned to the port!!
On the same night there was a meeting among the captains of these fishing boats!!
June 27th: Because of the previous day’s violation, the fishing boats were not allowed to leave the port….
June 28th: However, on the next day the fishing boats were allowed to leave the port…
The boats continued as if nothing had happened before…
However, the Yonpyong captains secretly decided to cross over the NLL at 8 o’clock!!
08:00AM:
60 fishing boats crossed the NLL at the same time and ignored the south Korean navy’s warning and started fishing!!
08:45AM:
A warning was announced by the south Korean navy saying that the north Korean navy guards were coming down towards to the south. The fishermen continued to ignore this warning and kept fishing…
09:00AM
Three high-speed vessels came to support the south Korean navy vessels…
Two of the high-speed vessels stood face to face with the north Korean navy vessel…
At that time four other south Korean vessels started to ordering the fishing boats to return south!!
09:45AM
The showdown still continued with the north Korean vessel, and the south Korean fleet commander issued an order of immediate withdrawal…
10:13AM
Yonpyong fishing boats completed their departure from the area!!
10:30AM
The showdown ended as the north Korean guard vessel withdrew.
At night, the captains and the owners of the crab fishing boats negotiated the limited crossing of NLL with the south Korean military authority!!
The day of the incident…
June 29th:
06:00AM
Just like other days, the fishing boats left the port at 6AM and the communication began with the naval authorities. The naval authorities pleaded with the fishermen that they should wait till 8AM to make a limited crossing of the NLL….
07:30AM
The fishermen couldn’t wait another 30 minutes, they all started to cross over the NLL. And the south Korean high-speed vessels were taken by surprise….
The distance from here to the north Korea is about 11 Kilometers!!
At sea, we measure the distance by the mile: one mile is equivalent to approximately 1.84 KMs.!!
Most the crab fishing boats anchored around 3-4 miles, about 10 boats went over 7 miles north of the NLL!!
08:00AM
Two south Korean high-speed vessels were sent to control the fishing boats that went over the limits… Four other vessels also were sent to support its fleet….
The fishing boats that crossed the NLL were disciplined with water cannons, but it was of no use….They continued to fish….
The south Korean naval vessels gave up and concentrated on the protection of the fishing boats…
08:45AM
Two high-speed north Korean naval vessels movement were identified…
09:00AM
When the north Korean naval vessels tried to approach the south Korean fishing boats, a [SK] fleet commanding office ordered immediate withdrawal [of the fishing boats]…
09:05AM
Two south Korean navy vessels guarding the fishing boats left to stop the north Korean naval vessels from approaching the south Korean fishing boats!!
09:13AM
The north and south guard vessels confronted each other!!
09:45AM
The north and south engaged in a battle!!
Had the south Korean crab fishing boats listened to the earlier warning given by the south Korean navy…, this incident would not have taken place!!
Although I am a fisherman myself…,I am very regretful; we could have saved the precious lives of the young navy men ….
At the time of the battle, approximately 10 crab fishing boats were near the area….
But when ordered to withdraw by the south Korean navy, they cussed the soldiers!!
What do you think?
I was at the scene of the incident….and was an eye witness the whole event….
When the authorities try to cover up the truth, I couldn’t sleep at night;
I felt so sorry for the dead soldiers and their grieving families….
Please let the truth to come out!!
The painful cries of an injured navy man still echoes loudly in my ear….
As he was crying, he shouted at us, " I really hate fishermen like you!."
* The articles appeared in the July 2, 2002 issue of the south Korean Peace Web: Internet Peace News Magazine ‘Peace-Making’, seung815@kornet.net.[Translation by Jeong, Yoomi , yjeong2000@yahoo.com]
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