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Global Recon
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April 13, 2005
Mystery Ship Crosses into N. Korea; S. Korean Navy Fires Warning Shots

UPDATE: Looks like I was wrong. It appears to be the act of a lone drunk who opted for the Workers' Paradise. That's going to be some hangover.

ORIGINAL POST: The Chosun Ilbo calls it a defection, but without knowing more than what's in the article, I'd say a more likely theory is that some North Korean infiltrators were on their way home.

South Korean coastal border guards fired some 20 warning shots from a 60 mm mortar, 106 mm recoilless rifle and MG50 machine gun, but were unable to stop the ship crossing the NLL.
It's strictly my own speculation at this point, and a definitive explanation may not be forthcoming, but I'll be the first to admit it if I'm wrong. This piece by Andrei Lankov is must-read background material (the man's timing is pretty extraordinary, no?). Not that the current South Korean regime would eagerly admit such a possibility.

Whose hostile policy, Minister Chung?

UPDATE: CNN reports that the vessel appears to have been a South Korean fishing boat.

Posted by OneFreeKorea at April 13, 2005 12:22 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Perhaps he was attempting to navigate by means of a Kerry Magic Hat™.

Posted by: Achillea [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 13, 2005 06:15 PM

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