N. Korean ship incident reported late

It was learned belatedly that the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) headquarters here knew of but did not report to higher authorities the infiltration by a North Korean patrol boat into Southern territorial waters over the Northern Limit Line (NLL) some time ago.

The Defense Ministry reported Monday that a North Korean patrol craft departing from the northern territorial waters south of Jangsankot point approached the NLL at high speed, crossing into the territorial waters of South Korea 0.5 mile at around 9 a.m. Nov. 14. The South Korean navy rushed there three patrol killer medium (PKM) vessels and one picket boat.

A JCS briefing at the time only said that naval vessels of the two sides were deployed near the NLL but that there was no violation of the line. Defense Minister Cho Seong-Tae told the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly on Monday that he had not been informed of the incident because the JCS had failed to include it in its report to the National Security Council (NSC) meeting Nov. 21. Cho, however, said that he confirmed there was no deliberate attempt at a cover-up or false report.