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N. Korea demands Seoul’s apology, compensation for boat collision

March 14, 2016

SEOUL (Yonhap) — North Korea on Monday belatedly called on the South Korean government to apologize and pay compensation for a boat collision that occurred last October.

North Korea had previously claimed that a South Korean vessel deliberately slammed into North Korean fishing boat Turubong-3 in the East Sea on Oct. 1, resulting in property damage and the injury of five North Koreans

In an article titled “Gangsters ignorant of human ethics and laws,” the North’s main newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported that “the Park Geun-hye clique should offer an apology for the crime committed against the North Korean boat and pay proper compensation for the damage.”

The daily of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party claimed the puppet regime of the South has since evaded apology and compensation for the past months without feeling any sense of guilt, adding, “Any crime should be followed by due responsibility and punishment.”

It also said that if the South tries to dodge responsibility, the eventual price for the crime will be higher and the punishment more severe.

“Moreover, what makes us more indignant is that the puppet regime of the South is insisting doggedly to justify the accident,” it said. “It’s like a shameless and brazen act of robbery in which we cannot find any bit of human conscience and duty from them.”

According to the South Korean Coast Guard, it was later confirmed that the South Korean freighter “HIGHNY” left the scene after colliding with the North Korean fishing vessel.

According to the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Oct. 5, the South Korean vessel deliberately rammed into Turubong-3, a boat belonging to the Foreign Trade Administration Bureau of North Hamgyong Province when it was conducting a fishing operation, injuring five crewmen and damaging the boat before taking flight.

The KCNA added the incident was in violation of “the compulsory requirements of the United Nations Maritime Law, which calls for any ship which causes a crash in the open sea to help the other ship.”