854 Chapter 6
States itself. Talks about sanctioning North Korea had been in the works earlier in
the year, when North Korea withdrew from Nonproliferation Treaty for a short time,
refusing to cooperate with International Atomic Energy Association protocol.
A plan of action in the event that North Korea attacked the South was announced on
March 26, 1994. The plan included the assistance of Japan. On April 18, the first batch
of American made Patriot missiles were dispatched to the border of South Korea,
despite the protest of the North. Tensions increased even more when, on December
17, an American army helicopter strayed over the border into North Korea during a
snowstorm and was brought down by North Korean forces. One pilot was killed while
the other later released. On April 22, 1995, in the wake of a breakdown of nuclear
talks with the United States, North Korea made a veiled threat against South Korea by
saying that it would take “necessary decisive measures.”
On October 17, South Korean troops shot and killed a North Korean spy in the
demilitarized zone (DMZ). There was an armed clash one week later. Then, on April
4, 1996, the North announced that it would no longer respect the DMZ as agreed
under the armistice as a response to South Korea’s deployment of weapons into the
demilitarized zone. In the next two days, 260 heavily armed North Korean troops
moved into the DMZ, creating a state of emergency along the border. On September
18, a North Korean submarine ran aground in South Korea. Clashes then occurred the
following week, resulting in 14 deaths, and smaller incidents followed later that year
and early into the next.
On July 16, 1997, North and South Korean troops exchanged fire in the DMZ when
South Korean border guards spotted North Korean forces on the southern side of the
border and opened fire after several warnings. On September 9, one North Korean sol-
dier was shot dead in the DMZ after refusing to respond to warnings by South Korean
forces not to approach their guard post. Again, various border violations persisted
throughout the end of the year and into the next.
On June 22, 1998, a North Korean submarine was ensnared by South Korean fish-
ing nets and taken to the naval base at Donghae, South Korea. It appeared as though
the agents had previously been ashore on a spying mission. South Korea denounced
this as a “serious act of aggression.” A suspected North Korean spy vessel was
attacked and sunk (one People’s Republic of Kampuchea soldier killed) on December
18, after having been chased into international waters by South Korean air and sea
forces. This was the third incursion into South Korea by North Korean forces since
June. On June 15, 1999, a North Korean torpedo boat was sunk in a naval clash in
the Yellow Sea. The confrontation had begun on June 6, when South Korean naval
ships encountered North Korean ships escorting fishing vessels into disputed waters.
Two American navy ships sailed into South Korean waters on June 17, but there were
no incidents.
Finally, on August 16, American and South Korean troops began a 12-day joint
military exercise. This was two weeks after a similar joint exercise between South
Korea and Japan in the Tsushima Straits (August 5). The Japanese and South Korean
exercise had been the first of its kind since World War II. On September 2, North
Korea unilaterally declared a new Yellow Sea border while South Korea vowed to
defend the original border with force if necessary.