Reuters AlertNet Lite - North Korea lets South team in for missing Russians

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North Korea lets South team in for missing Russians

26 Oct 2006 04:09:48 GMT
Source: Reuters

SEOUL, Oct 26 (Reuters) - North Korea has given the go-ahead for South Korean coast guard aircraft and a patrol ship to enter its territorial waters and air space to search for six missing Russian sailors despite regional tension over its nuclear test.

Pyongyang had warned it would take action against the South that could lead to war if Seoul joined U.S.-led sanctions against the North for defying international warnings and conducting its first nuclear test on Oct. 9.

"The rescue team has made entry," a coast guard official said by telephone.

South Korea's navy and coast guard have rescued 11 Russian sailors and found the body of another from a crew of 18 which had been missing from a ship which sank on Monday in stormy weather.

The 2,448-tonne Sinegorye sank about 70 miles (105 km) off Ullung Island after water rushed into its cargo compartment in rough seas, the South Korean coast guard has said.

The North's military has given authorisation for a search stretching up to 15 miles north of the maritime border between the waters of the two Koreas off the east coast, the South Korean coast guard said in a statement.

South and North Korea are technically at war under a truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. Military tensions remain high on the peninsula despite some warming of political ties in recent years.

North Korea has previously given authorisations for similar search and rescue operations off the east coast, even while keeping up tension at a disputed sea border on the other coast.

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Last updated:Thu Oct 26 04:11:25 2006