Soldiers Discover 3 Dead S. Koreans Officers Believe Commandos From Submarine Killed Villagers

South Korean soldiers found the bodies of three villagers hidden in the East Coast mountains Wednesday, and officers expressed the belief that the three were murdered by North Korean commandos from a submarine that went aground three weeks ago.

The body of a 67-year-old woman who had been bludgeoned and suffocated was discovered with those of two men, aged 54 and 45, who had been shot to death. The villagers had set out Tuesday to pick mushrooms and failed to return. Their bodies had been hidden under leaves and reeds.

Military officials said cartridges from ammunition fired by M-16 rifles were found nearby. M-16s are standard issue for South Korean soldiers, but several of the commandos who came ashore from the submarine were discovered carrying M-16s.

The deaths immediately ratcheted up anger on the Korean peninsula between communist North and democratic South. Twenty-two North Koreans from the submarine have been killed and one has been captured. South Korean authorities say that three more have eluded the manhunt and are believed to be responsible for the deaths of the three civilians.

North Korea has threatened to retaliate “a thousandfold” for the deaths of its men and has demanded return of the submarine and bodies, which South Korea has refused. North Korea also arrested a U.S. citizen on spying charges this week, in what officials in Seoul and Washington call an attempt to use fabricated charges to deflect international criticism from the submarine incident.

South Korean President Kim Young Sam said that the situation had the potential to start a war.

North Korea in 1994 agreed to suspend its nuclear program, suspected of being intended for production of weapons, in exchange for less risky Western-designed nuclear power plants and a steady interim supply of fuel oil. South Korea and Japan, partners with the United States in the deal, are providing the financing for the $5 billion plan.