A South Korean navy boat patrols disputed waters in the Yellow Sea  MESSAGE BOARD: North Korea: new beginning?

June 14, 1999
Web posted at: 9:22 p.m. EDT (0122 GMT)

In this story: South Korean ships rammed North Korean vessels A root problem: Economic hardship RELATED STORIES, SITES

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- Two North Korean patrol ships crossed into South Korean territory in the Yellow Sea Monday, as a tense standoff continued for an eighth day.

Seven ships which entered South Korean waters earlier had retreated to northern waters on Sunday, South Korean officials said, but two crossed the border again at about 6:00 a.m (2100 GMT) on Monday.

"The two have remained in our waters since then," a South Korean defense ministry spokesman said.

Some analysts said the North Koreans are attempting to protect the impoverished country's fishing fleet during crab season. Receipts from exports provide one of North Korea's few sources of hard cash.

North Korean officials are scheduled to meet with officers of the United Nations Command on Tuesday to discuss the situation, in the border village of Panmunjom.

North Korea agreed to the meeting on Sunday. The U.S.-backed U.N. Command oversees an uneasy truce between the Koreas. The truce ended three years of war on the peninsula but left the two sides technically at war.

The North's willingness to discuss the issue was viewed as a positive step by the U.N. Command," said U.S. Colonel Carl Kropf, the command's spokesman. "It remains in everyone's interest to reduce tensions."

A North Korea gunboat patrols the Yellow Sea during the dispute with South Korea

The Yellow Sea standoff, which had been largely peaceful, escalated on Friday when South Korean ships repeatedly rammed North Korean vessels to drive them back across the sea boundary.

On Monday, a defense ministry official said the two North Korean vessels which entered southern waters were about 3.5 km (two miles) inside the Northern Limit Line (NLL), which forms part of a buffer zone.

He said South Korea had deployed seven navy boats against the North Korean ships.

South Korea says Northern naval vessels recently have crossed into southern waters daily.

The sea confrontation has taken place just south of the boundary called the Northern Limit Line (NLL).

Pyongyang appears determined to protect the fishing fleet during peak season for catching crabs, the analysts said.

North Korea is suffering from a crushing food shortage caused by decades of economic problems, compounded by natural disasters in recent years.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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