Suspected N. Korean infiltrator found in S. Korea
Copyright c 1998 Nando.net
Copyright c 1998 AFP
SEOUL (July 12, 1998 01:04 a.m. EDT nandotimes.com) - The South Korean military launched a major hunt for traces of North Korean commandos Sunday after the body of a suspected infiltrator was found, the military said.
The body, dressed in a black wetsuit, washed ashore at 9:30 a.m. (0300 Greenwich Mean Time) near the eastern port of Donghae, the defense ministry said.
"We also retrieved a rifle and a grenade near the area, leading us to believe it may be the body of a North Korean infiltrator," a military official told AFP.
"The body triggered a massive military search along the coast to track signs of infiltration by North Korean commandos," he said.
The body was discovered near where a North Korean spy submarine was captured last month. The bodies of nine North Koreans with bullet wounds were found later inside the submarine and later handed over North Korea.
"We have no clue right now to believe the man found dead today was one of the crew members brought into South Korean waters in the submarine," the official said.
"We do not rule out the possibility that North Korea had sent a separate group of infiltrators,'' he added.
Yonhap news agency quoted witnesses as saying that an oxygen tank was found with the body, which was that of a man in his thirties who had long hair.
"I saw the body drifting into shore while I was working on the coast,'' said local resident Lee Jung-Soo.
The submarine intrusion heightened tension between the two Koreas, which have remained technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War.
North Korea has denied the submarine was on a spy mission. But Seoul has demanded an apology from Pyongyang, calling the submarine intrusion a "serious aggression.''
The submarine was caught entangled in the nets of a South Korean fishing boat on June 22. At the time, military investigators did not rule out the possibility that some crewmen might have escaped.
Based on a logbook found inside the submarine, investigators said the crew had tried to send out several armed infiltrators to spy on the South before the vessel was captured.
South Korean military authorities believe senior agents among the crew committed suicide after killing their colleagues.
They also believe some of the crew were from North Korea's 100,000-strong espionage and guerrilla units, which have regularly sent agents and armed commandos into the South since the war.
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