Patrol boat fires warning shots ahead of key Korean talks

SEOUL - A South Korean Navy vessel yesterday fired warning shots after a North Korean patrol boat crossed a disputed border off the west coast of the divided peninsula, just a day before Beijing talks on the North's nuclear programme.

It was not immediately clear whether the incursion was accidental or deliberate, but the communist North has in the past raised the stakes before talks or created a pretext to delay or walk out.

The North Korean delegation to the nuclear talks arrived in Beijing around the time news broke of the border incursion.

A spokesman for the South's Joint Chiefs said a South Korean patrol boat fired two warning shots.

North Korea is set to attend three days of talks in Beijing starting today to discuss its nuclear weapons plans with the United States, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan.

The North's Navy vessel returned across the border three minutes after it crossed the boundary. There were no reports of casualties.

It was the first time this year the South Korean Navy has fired warning shots to repel a Navy vessel.

But it was the 16th time this year a vessel from the North had crossed the so-called Northern Limit Line boundary, the de facto border that the North has declared invalid.

Most incidents involve North Korean boats working crab fishing grounds.

There were deadly naval clashes there in 1999 and last year.

Tensions have been high on the Korean peninsula since last October when the United States said the North had said it was pursuing a secret nuclear arms programme.

Before a Cabinet meeting in Seoul, South Korean ministers spoke about the nuclear talks.

Kim Jae Sup, a vice-foreign minister, said the US, Japan and South Korea had finished co-ordinating their positions.

- REUTERS