Report: South Korean fishing boat taken to North Korea

October 4th, 2009 North Korea demands SKorea return 11 defectorsSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's Unification Ministry says North Korea has demanded Seoul return 11 people who defected to the South by sea last week. The ministry says in a statement that the North sent its demand in a message Sunday.

October 1st, 2009 11 North Koreans defect by sea to South KoreaSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's military says a group of 11 North Koreans have defected by sea. An official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the North Koreans crossed into southern waters off the divided peninsula's east coast aboard a small barge early Thursday evening.

September 13th, 2009 Report: NKorea dam was full before deadly releaseSEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean dam was nearly full before a large amount of water was released without warning earlier this month, causing a deadly river surge in South Korea, a news report said Sunday. North Korea discharged an estimated 40 million tons of water from its new dam into the Imjin River on Sept.

August 17th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea Monday put its troops on alert as an annual joint South Korean-US war game commenced and accused its neighbour of planning an attack. North Korea would react to any provocation with a "merciless and prompt annihilating strike at the aggressors with all offensive and defensive means, including nuclear deterrent", state media quoted the high command of the Korean People's Army as saying.

August 1st, 2009 SKorea awaits word on fishermen seized by NorthSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea accused a South Korean fishing boat of illegally entering its waters and said Saturday an investigation of four seized fishermen would continue. South Korea has urged their quick release, saying the 29-ton vessel accidentally drifted across the sea border Thursday after its satellite navigation system apparently malfunctioned.

August 1st, 2009 North accuses SKorean boat of illegally entrySEOUL, South Korea — North Korea accused a South Korean fishing boat of illegally entering its waters and said Saturday an investigation of four seized fishermen was under way. South Korea has urged their quick release, saying the 29-ton vessel accidentally drifted across the sea border Thursday after its satellite navigation system apparently malfunctioned.

July 31st, 2009 North Korea quiet on seized South Korean fishermenSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea was silent Friday about four South Korean fishermen seized off the east coast after their boat strayed into northern waters a day earlier at a time of tension on the divided peninsula. The 29-ton boat drifted into North Korean waters Thursday after its satellite navigation system apparently malfunctioned.

July 30th, 2009 NKorea feared to use seized fishermen as leverageSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's seizure of a South Korean fishing boat and its four crew members raised fears that the communist nation could use the incident to exert pressure on Seoul amid badly strained ties between the rival countries. The Thursday apprehension follows the North's sentencing of two American journalists to 12 years of hard labor last month and its monthslong detention of a South Korean citizen.

July 30th, 2009 NKorea seizes SKorean fishing boatSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea seized a fishing boat from the South on Thursday after it accidentally strayed into the North's waters, officials said, amid tensions on the peninsula over Pyongyang's nuclear program. Seoul asked the North to quickly release the vessel and the four crew members, a Unification Ministry spokeswoman said.

July 30th, 2009 North Korea seizes South Korean fishing boatSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea is investigating a South Korean fishing boat and its four-member crew that it seized Thursday after the vessel strayed into the country's waters, the South Korean government said. The incident came amid tensions on the divided peninsula over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, and as the two Koreas have been mired in a standoff for more than a year over Seoul's tough policy toward Pyongyang.

July 30th, 2009 SKorea seeks release fishing boat seized by NKoreaSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea asked North Korea to quickly release a fishing boat and its four crew members, hours after the vessel was seized after accidentally crossing the countries' eastern sea border, an official said Thursday. The incident comes amid tense relations between the countries over the North's nuclear and missile programs and amid a steady deterioration in ties since early last year.

April 21st, 2009 SEOUL - A South Korean delegation reached North Korea Tuesday morning to participate in talks amid mounting tensions in the Korean Peninsula. 'The delegation has crossed the border,' a spokesman of South Korea's Unification Ministry said.

April 19th, 2009 SEOUL - The South Korean government Sunday said that it has decided to accept Pyongyang's offer for holding inter-Korean talks next week. It will be the first governmental talks between South Korea and North Korea since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February last year.

March 6th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea Thursday indirectly threatened to shoot down South Korean passenger aircraft in its airspace, amid growing tension on the Korean peninsula. North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea made the threat as the US and South Korea prepared to undertake joint military exercises next Monday.

January 29th, 2009 PYONGYANG - North Korea has scrapped all political and military agreements with South Korea, the official KCNA news agency reported Friday. It denounced the South Korean government for pushing the inter-Korean relations to the brink of a war.