S Korea and US Tracking Four North Korean Submarines

VLADIVOSTOK. May 27. VOSTOK-MEDIA – South Korean and the U.S. surveillance are searching for four North Korean submarines after they have disappeared from radars, South Korean media reported.

“Four North Korean submarines left their east coast base earlier this week when new sanctions had been announced against this country,” a South Korean official said. “We don’t know where they are located at present. Its quite strange that four North Korean submarines have left no traces for two consecutive days.”

Pyongyang announced Tuesday it would take military actions if the South will not stop violating its water frontier. Earlier Tuesday, Kim Jong-il ordered the armed forces to be put on full alert, Reuters reported.

Earlier this spring an open military confrontation occurred between the South and North. South Korea fired warning shots at North Korean naval boats in the Yellow Sea, Yonhap wrote. Seoul officials said one of the naval boats crossed the Northern Limit Line and ventured about 2.2 km into South Korean waters. Later, the boat returned to the North after receiving a warning from the South Korean Navy. About 50 minutes later, another North Korean naval boat entered the South’s waters. As the boat did not respond to warning signals the South fired warning shots. After that the patrol boat started to sail back.