SOUTH KOREA CAPTURES MAN, BELIEVES HE'S LAST OF INFILTRATION PLOT.Byline: Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune Daily newspaper published in Chicago. The Tribune is one of the leading U.S. newspapers and long has been the dominant voice of the Midwest. Founded in 1847, it was bought in 1855 by six partners, including Joseph Medill (1823–99), who made the paper South Korean troops Friday cornered a 20th North Korean spy, believed to be the last agent in a bizarre and bloody infiltration effort. Two days after a North Korean submarine was found crippled and abandoned on the coast near a South Korean village, 18 of the infiltrators are dead and another is in custody. The South Korean military believes that 20 North Koreans were aboard the submarine, but troops continued to comb the rugged coastline south of the North Korean border because they cannot be certain how many agents came ashore. South Korean state television said the 20th infiltrator exchanged gunfire with South Korean security forces before waving some white clothing to signal surrender. On Thursday, the South Koreans said they shot dead seven North Korean agents. The bodies of 11 crew members from the submarine were found lying together on a mountainside Wednesday. All had been shot through the head. Authorities have speculated that the deaths were suicides, with the arrangement of the bodies suggesting that one of the agents shot the others and then turned the gun on himself to avoid capture. The South Korean government is treating the infiltration as a serious provocation, but relations between North and South Korea are always strained and North Korea's behavior is never predictable. In some ways the two Koreas have made progress this year toward their stated goal of reunification re·u·ni·fy tr.v. re·u·ni·fied, re·u·ni·fy·ing, re·u·ni·fies To cause (a group, party, state, or sect) to become unified again after being divided. , but the secretive and xenophobic xen·o·phobe n. A person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples. xen North continues to show two faces - conciliation conciliation: see mediation. and belligerence bel·lig·er·ence n. A hostile or warlike attitude, nature, or inclination; belligerency. belligerence Noun the act or quality of being belligerent or warlike belligerence . South Korea and the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. have proposed four-way peace talks with the North and China to conclude a permanent peace and work toward reunification. The 1950-53 Korean War Korean War, conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces in Korea from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. At the end of World War II, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into Soviet (North Korean) and U.S. (South Korean) zones of occupation. ended with a fragile truce but no treaty. Technically the two sides remain at war. The North has been studying the proposal and appeared to reach out to the international community by requesting food aid to combat starvation in the face of serious flooding. But the North also has used menacing behavior to try to force peace negotiations directly with the United States and freeze out South Korea. The South Korean government has reacted cautiously in addressing the submarine incident's impact on the proposed peace talks. |
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