Posted on 07/01/2002 4:32:10 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
SEOUL (Reuters) - The South Korean defense minister will meet the commander-in-chief of U.S. forces in South Korea on Monday to discuss Saturday's naval clash between the two Koreas, Seoul's defense ministry said.
South Korea has enhanced security after two North Korean patrol ships sailed over the disputed sea border and fired on its boats, killing four and wounding 19 South Korean sailors.
Both sides blame the other for sparking the clash, the worst such incident in three years.
``Kim Dong-shin will meet Leon LaPorte at 3 p.m. today to discuss the naval clash,'' a ministry spokesman said.
LaPorte is also chief of combined South Korean-U.S. forces. The United States has 37,000 troops stationed in South Korea to help deter North Korea from repeating a 1950 invasion that started the three-year Korean War.
``Since the incident occured, we've been in close contacts with South Korean government officials,'' said a spokeswoman for U.S. forces based in Korea.
``There have been a number of meetings or discussions since the incident happened. We're working side by side with our ROK (South Korean) counterparts,'' she said.
U.S. military officials are liaising with South and North Korean officials to set up a special general-level meeting on the incident at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarised Zone bisecting the Korean peninsula.
It is not yet clear when or if that meeting will be held.
The sea battle took place just hours before South Korea played its final match in the soccer World Cup.
Many in the South interpreted the incident as Pyongyang's attempt to take the shine off South Korea's World Cup performance. But the North has said it believes the South provoked the clash to tarnish Pyongyang's image.
The United States has condemned the attack as a provocation by the North and a senior U.S. official said Washington might delay sending a proposed delegation to North Korea for talks.
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