Navies of two Koreas clash, no casualties

SEOUL, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- A North Korean vessel was damaged when South and North Korean naval forces clashed Tuesday off their west coast, a South Korean defense official said.

There were no immediate reports of South Korean casualties, the official said, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

The clashes, which occurred near the Baekryeong Island, come as U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to travel to Asia this week. Obama is scheduled to be in Seoul next week and is expected to discuss the stalled six-nation talks on North Korea's denuclearization in his talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

The South Korean official told Yonhap Tuesday's clash began after the South Korean navy fired a warning shot when a North Korean patrol ship crossed the Northern Limit Line, the two countries' coastal demarcation line.

"The North Koreans then fired back," the official said. "The North appears to have suffered damage."

The North does not accept the NLL, marked by a U.S. general at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, the report said.

In similar naval exchanges of fire in the past, a North Korean ship was sunk and several vessels from both sides were damaged in 1999, the BBC reported. In 2002, four South Korean sailors and about 30 North Koreans died, the report said.

Relations between the two Koreas had been improving lately despite North Korea's provocative actions, which have included its second nuclear test in May and subsequent missile tests. Those actions resulted in tighter U.N. sanctions, further isolating the Communist country.