Asahi Reports, “Two North Korean Submarines Appear over the East Sea Numerous Times”

Quoting its Washington military informants, the Asahi Shimbun reported on October 21 that two North Korean submarines repeatedly trespassed into South Korea’s territorial seas starting on October 10, and it was confirmed that one of the two submarines were found near South Korea’s territorial seas on October 19.

The informant stated that the United States relayed this information to the ROK army and carried out an independent search. He also added that officials from the ROK army announced that they were “unable to confirm (the existence of any submarines),” and that the U.S. had lost its credibility of the ROK army’s response to the situation.

According to the Asahi Shimbun, U.S. intelligence confirmed that two North Korean submarines appeared in the East Sea on October 10, and that they were small diesel powered “Shark” class submarines (300 tons) used to infiltrate enemy lines.

Of the two submarines, it was reported that one returned to North Korea after a few days while the other was spotted sailing along the East Sea on October 19.

The ROK army, after it received information from the U.S., announced, “The navy conducted a search operation but was not able to find any suspicious objects.”

The Korean government denied any appearances of North Korean submarines at the Assembly`s National Defense Committee hearing on October 14.

Won-Jae Park parkwj@donga.com