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Koreas row over incursion claim
From CNN Correspondent Sohn Jie-Ae
SEOUL, S. Korea (CNN) -- South Korean officials have denied a claim by Pyongyang that it has sent warships into North Korean waters. The North Korean news agency KCNA carried a report on Tuesday charging South Korea with staging provocations by sending warships into its waters. A South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman said there was no provocation but that weather on the western seas was "harsh" and some of its naval vessels had suffered damage. He would not elaborate on what kind of damage was suffered or if the damage had resulted in South Korean ships drifting into North Korean waters. But the spokesman insisted there was no incursion. North and South Korea are still technically at war since the 1950-53 war between them ended without a peace treaty, and the land border between the two nations is the most heavily fortified in the world. The United States has around 37,000 troops based in the South to stop an invasion by the North. In recent years, the two Koreas have clashed several times over the western sea border. In the latest incident, a violent skirmish between their navies on the Yellow Sea in June this year left at least four South Korean sailors dead, while an estimated 13 North Korean sailors were killed. While the Koreas have made attempts at reconciliation, they have been marred by numerous setbacks. The latest came after North Korea admitted to the United States that it runs a secretive nuclear weapons program, violating a 1994 deal, and sparking a strong global reaction. South Korea, Japan, the United States and the European Union are due to decide this week whether to allow the North to receive a shipment of oil under the deal, which froze Pyongyang's previous nuclear program.
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