Defense Ministry renames 2002 West Sea maritime clash

Posted on : 2008-04-09 12:18 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
New name, more closely reflects national maritime strategy, ministry says
 just before the 5th anniversary of the West Sea maritime clash that took place between the South and North Korean navies in 2002. The National Defense Ministry has changed the official name of the clash to the Second Yeonpyeong Naval Battle
just before the 5th anniversary of the West Sea maritime clash that took place between the South and North Korean navies in 2002. The National Defense Ministry has changed the official name of the clash to the Second Yeonpyeong Naval Battle

The National Defense Ministry has changed the official name of a West Sea maritime clash that took place between the South and North Korean navies in 2002 to the Second Yeonpyeong Naval Battle.

According to a press release from the ministry on April 8, the government’s decision to change the name was based on the idea that the June 2002 West Sea clash was similar to the Yeongpyeong Naval Battle of June 1999 in that both were conflicts over the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border between north and south that was set by the United Nations at the end of the Korean War but is not recognized by North Korea. The ministry said that it also took into consideration the nation’s custom of naming naval conflicts according to the name of the site on or near which they occurred and the order of occurrence. In consequence, the existing Yeongpyeong Naval Battle will be named the First Yeonpyeong Naval Battle.

The 2002 incident was an inter-Korean armed clash that took place on the sea near Yeonpyeongdo Island when two North Korean vessels crossed the NLL and confronted four South Korean patrol boats in the area. Six South Korean soldiers and a number of crew members were killed, along with a number of North Koreans who were on board.

It seems that the government has changed the name as a way to deepen the nation’s memory of the naval clash. Earlier, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans’ Affairs announced that events to commemorate the West Sea maritime clash will be organized by the government.

An ministry official said that the current name, the West Sea clash, is a neutral one, simply showing the fact that the South and North clashed on the West Sea, while the new name references a battle fought to accomplish a national strategy on the sea. The families of the deceased soldiers have urged the nation to change the name in the past, maintaining that the armed clash should be called a naval battle because it took place to protect the NLL.

The 2002 incident was dubbed the West Sea maritime clash because, unlike the First Yeonpyeong Naval Battle, which lasted for nine days in 1999, the 2002 incident lasted for a mere 24 minutes. With the state of inter-Korean relations at the time, and public sentiment that said that the South had not won the fight due to the serious damage it had suffered, the government chose to give the incident a neutral name.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

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