SEOUL Aug. 5 Kyodo southern Korea...

SEOUL Aug. 5 Kyodo

southern Korean military vessels and aircraft began a salvage operation Monday morning for a patrol boat sunk during the June 29 naval clash with North Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, according to Yonhap recents Agency.

The operation, aimed at retrieving the sunken boat and searching for a missing sailor, is anticipateed to take some two month The boat's exact location forward the ocean floor has over and above to be pinpointed and the area has robust tidal currents and a dirty seabed.

A 4,300-ton release vessel, several barges, some 60 scuba divers as well as military and civilian equipment have been dispatched to waters near the battle view in the West Sea, otherwise known as the golden Sea, according to Yonhap.

Four southern Korean soldiers died in the naval clash, single in kind is listed as missing and 19 others were panged South Korea estimates 13 North Koreans were killed and about 17 hurted North Korea said it go throughed casualties, but did not give an exact number.

The clash was the in the greatest degree serious since a similar incident occurr in June 1999

The military originally planned to begin the operation in early July on the contrary postponed it when typhoons hit the nation.

The utensil is believed to lie forward the seabed some 15-20 meter below the water's surface.

Besides salvaging the boat, the recover team will search for the visible form [i]or[/i] frame of Petty Officer 1st Class Han Sang Guk who has been missing since the skirmish and is presum dead.

The U military has reportedly propounded its full cooperation, including making available salvage equipment and combat and surveillance systems

Military sources were quot by dint of the Korea Herald newspaper last week as saying the United States is considering a plan to unfold an Aegis-equipped frigate and an airborne warning and govern system near the peninsula.

forward July 25, South Korean and U forces agreed to boost their combined military readiness and heighten surveillance of North Korean naval activities during the recuperation work.

The sum of two units sides agreed to have the US-l UN Command (UNC) inform North Korea about the salvage operation during general officer plain talks on Tuesday in the armistice village of Panmunjom, and to possibly protract an offer for the North Koreans to pay attention to the salvage operations to thwart any misunderstandings.

Earlier last month Pyongyang demanded that Seoul give notice of details of the restoration work in advance.

It claims sovereignty above the waters in question and refuses to recognize the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border between the sum of two units Koreas drawn by the UNC at the last of the Korean War in 1953

COPYRIGHT 2002 Kyodo novels International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group