1 minute ago 2009-12-09T03:04:26-08:00
SEOUL (Reuters) – The two Koreas have had a naval skirmish in Yellow Sea waters off their west coast but there were no casualties, the South's Yonhap news agency reported.
The incident comes just ahead of a visit to Asia by U.S. President Barack Obama, with Pyongyang seeking direct talks with his administration and increasing regional tension by saying in recent days it had produced more arms-grade plutonium.
"A North Korean patrol ship crossed the Northern Limit Line and did not cease when we fired warning shots," Yonhap cited a South Korean defense source as saying.
Military officials could not immediately confirm the reports.
The two Koreas have fought two deadly naval battles in the past decade in the Yellow Sea waters near the contested sea border called the Northern Limit Line.
The South Korean won retreated on the news, but there was no immediate impact on stocks or bonds.
(Reporting by Kim Yeon-hee, Rhee So-eui, Christine Kim and Seo Eunkyung; Writing Jon Herskovitz; Editing by John Chalmers)
