Navies of 2 Koreas exchange fire near border

SEOUL — A badly damaged North Korean patrol ship retreated in flames Tuesday after a skirmish with a South Korean naval vessel along their disputed western coast, the first such clash in seven years, South Korean officials said.

There were no South Korean casualties, the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties on the North Korean side. Each side blamed the other for violating the sea border.

The exchange of fire occurred as U.S. officials said President Obama has decided to send a special envoy to Pyongyang for rare direct talks on the communist country’s nuclear weapons program. No date has been set, but it would be the first one-on-one talks since Mr. Obama took office in January. He is due in Seoul next week.

“It’s a regrettable incident,” South Korean Commodore Lee Ki-sik told reporters in Seoul. “We are sternly protesting to North Korea and urging it to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.”

North Korea’s military issued a statement blaming South Korea for the “grave armed provocation,” saying South Korea’s ships crossed into North Korean territory.

The North claimed that a group of South Korean warships opened fire but fled after the North’s patrol boat dealt “a prompt retaliatory blow.” The statement, carried on the official Korean Central News Agency, said the South should apologize.

President Lee Myung-bak, who convened an emergency security meeting, ordered the South’s defense minister to strengthen military readiness.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that a North Korean patrol boat crossed the disputed western sea border about 11:27 a.m. (0227 GMT), drawing warning shots from a South Korean navy vessel. The North Korean boat then opened fire, and the South’s ship returned fire before the North’s vessel sailed back toward its waters, the statement said.

The clash occurred near the South-held island of Daecheong, about 120 nautical miles off the port city of Incheon, west of Seoul, the statement said.

The North Korean ship was seriously damaged in the skirmish, a Joint Chiefs of Staff officer said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy. Prime Minister Chung Un-chan told lawmakers the ship was on fire when it fled north.

Commodore Lee said the shooting lasted for about two minutes, during which the North Korean ship fired about 50 rounds at the South Korean vessel, about two miles away. He said the South Korean ship was lightly damaged.

Commodore Lee said several Chinese fishing boats were operating in the area at the time of clash, but they were undamaged. Mr. Chung, the prime minister, described the clash as “accidental,” telling lawmakers that two North Korean ships crossed into South Korean waters in an attempt to clamp down on Chinese fishing.

Mr. Lee, however, said the South Korean military was investigating if the North’s alleged violation was deliberate.

The Koreas regularly accuse each other of straying into their respective territories. South Korea’s military said that North Korean ships violated the sea border on 22 occasions this year.

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