A South Korean fishing boat seized by North Korea might be free in days despite increasing tensions between the two countries still technically at war.

South Korea has demanded the return of the Yeonan now in a North Korean port. The boat departed the South Korean port of Geojin 9 miles south of the demilitarized zone on the eastern coast on Wednesday.

South Korea does not dispute that the squid fishing vessel with its four crewmembers had sailed into North Korean waters above the Northern Limit Line. The NLL is an extension into the sea of the demilitarized zone on land that has separated the two halves of Korea since a cease-fire ended their three-year hostilities in 1953.

North Korea said they found the 29-ton boat 20 miles into their waters above the NLL, intercepted it and towed it into the port of Jangjon on Friday morning.

South Korean media have pointed out that recent similar incidents have been resolved in several weeks and in some cases days. The South Korean navy said it sent back two stray North Korean fishing boats on June 30 and July 5, according to a report in the Korea Herald newspaper.

The Yeonan is the third South Korean fishing boat to be seized by North Korea since 2005. The Hwangman, seized in 2005, was returned by North Korea after five days and the Woojin, seized in 2006, was released after 18 days.

The Yeonan is reported to have had a malfunction in its satellite navigation system, according to South Korean officials.

"The government sent a message to the North's maritime authorities via an inter-Korean communication channel, calling for the immediate release of the boat and crew members," a Unification Ministry spokesman told South Korean media.

After a short delay, officials in the North Korean capital Pyongyang acknowledged receiving the message, he said.

"If the trespassing was due to a simple malfunction, North Korea will set the boat free after a quick investigation," professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korea Studies in Seoul told The Korea Times.

"But if there were other causes, the situation could become more complicated," he said. There are some measures agreed on between the two Koreas regarding unexpected incidents such as this.

North Korean media have not covered the incident widely.

However, while the boat may be returned, the crew could be detained, the Korea Times said.

The British Broadcasting Corp. also noted that a South Korean worker at a joint north-south industrial project in the North has been held for almost four months by North Korea and accused of insulting its political system.

Two U.S. journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who have worked for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's California-based Current TV media group, were seized along North Korea's border with China in March. They were recently handed 12-year sentences of hard labor for trespassing.

Tensions could rise in the coming weeks after North Korea warned of "all-out war" at the approach of the Ulchi Freedom Guardian annual exercise between U.S. and South Korean military units set for Aug. 17-27.

earlier related report

NKorea silent on calls for release of SKorean boat crew

North Korea was silent Monday on South Korea's renewed call for the release of a fishing boat and four crew members which strayed across the maritime border four days ago.

"The North Korean side simply replied that the investigation was underway," said unification ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-Joo, after maritime authorities of the two countries communicated with each other early Monday.

Seoul says the 29-ton squid fishing boat drifted into the North's waters off the east coast Thursday due to a malfunctioning navigation system.

Pyongyang on Saturday said the boat had "illegally intruded" into its territorial waters, its first direct official response to the incident.

"A relevant institution is conducting concrete investigation into it at present," the communist state's official news agency said.

The two countries have remained technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict, but have sometimes returned each other's craft in the past.

Two South Korean trawlers strayed into the North's waters in April 2005 and December 2006 and were returned after five days and 18 days respectively.

But tensions have been mounting this year after nuclear and missile tests by the North and tougher UN Security Council sanctions in response.

The North has since March 30 detained a South Korean worker at the Seoul-funded Kaesong industrial estate, accusing him of insulting its system and urging a North Korean worker to defect.

It is also holding two US journalists captured on its border with China. They were jailed for 12 years in June for an illegal border crossing and an unspecified "grave crime."

earlier related report

NKorea says SKorean boat 'illegally intruded' into its waters

North Korea on Saturday said a South Korean fishing boat it seized had "illegally intruded" into its territorial waters in its first direct official response to the incident.

The South says the boat drifted into the North's waters off the east coast Thursday due to a malfunctioning navigation system, and called for an early return of the ship and its four crew members.

The North has yet to assure the South that the fishermen and the 29-ton squid fishing boat will be returned.

"A patrol ship… captured one ship of South Korea on July 30 when it illegally intruded deep into the DPRK (North Korea) territorial waters in the East Sea of Korea," Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said.

"A relevant institution is conducting concrete investigation into it at present."

The North's military on Friday faxed Seoul's government saying it was investigating the case, according to South Korean officials.

Saturday's brief two-sentence dispatch marked Pyongyang's first direct official reaction to the incident.

Seoul's Unification Minister Hyun In-Taek expressed hope Friday that Pyongyang would return the captured fishing boat "at an early date" together with its crew members, insisting the encroachment had been accidental.

Hyun described the North's relatively quick responses to the incident as "positive", raising hopes the crew would soon be released.

Ministry data showed two South Korean trawlers strayed into the North's waters in April 2005 and in December 2006, and they were returned five days and 18 days respectively after the seizures.

But tensions, which date back to the 1950-1953 Korean War, have been mounting this year after nuclear and missile tests by the communist state.

Pyongyang quit six-party talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programme after the UN Security Council censured it for a long-range rocket launch in April. Its second nuclear test followed a month later.

The Security Council has since imposed tougher sanctions.

The United States has urged the international community to continue to pressure North Korea to return to the six-party talks — made up of the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia.

But North Korea, declaring the multilateral talks "dead", this week reaffirmed its demand to deal with the United States directly.

The US and South Korean militaries plan to hold the August 17-27 Ulchi Freedom Guardian annual exercise, which North Korea denounces as a preparation to invade the communist state.

The North's defence ministry warned of a possible "all-out war", citing military tensions on the peninsula.

Inter-Korean relations have deteriorated since Seoul's President Lee Myung-Bak took office in 2008 promising a tougher stance towards Pyongyang.

North Korea has been holding a South Korean worker arrested at a Seoul-invested industrial estate in Kaesong on March 30 for allegedly insulting the North's regime and urging a North Korean worker to defect to the South.

North Korea is also holding two US journalists captured at its border with China on March 17 and jailed for 12 years on charges of committing hostile acts.

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