N. Korean Ship Opens Fire Military Escorts Fishing Vessels In Southern Zone

A group of North Korean boats slipped into South Korean-controlled waters on Thursday and opened fire in the direction of South Korean military vessels, which returned the fire, officials said.

No one was hurt, and the North Korean boats quickly retreated. But the incident underscored warnings by some analysts that the secretive government in the north may become even more unpredictable than usual as it suffers from a growing famine.

North Korean fishing vessels venture from time to time into Yellow Sea waters claimed by South Korea. But Thursday’s incident, which occurred about two miles south of the demarcation line, was unusual in that it was the first time such fishing boats were accompanied by a North Korean military vessel, which fired three shots, according to a spokesman in Seoul for the South Korean Defense Ministry.

The incident comes at a critical time for North Korea, which is struggling with a food crisis.

In the latest sign of its troubles, North Korea has abandoned a plan to barter zinc for 20,000 tons of American wheat. That deal had been widely regarded as an opener that might lead to growing barter arrangements between U.S. companies and North Korea.

But executives of a U.S. company involved, Cargill Inc., a Minneapolis-based commodities trader, were told last week during a visit to North Korea that it was backing out of the deal, according to Lori Johnson, a Cargill spokesman.

Johnson said that the North Koreans gave no explanation for canceling the deal. But it is possible that the nation could not procure enough zinc or that it believed that international food aid would be enough to meet the country’s needs.

The deal, which Cargill negotiated with the North Koreans two months ago, came after the U.S. Treasury Department approved Cargill’s application to export up to 500,000 tons of rice or wheat to North Korea. The agreement was supposed to demonstrate to the north that a cooperative attitude would be rewarded by American business deals that would ease its isolation and feed its people.

That deal collapsed just as a new report by the World Food Program, a U.N. agency, warned that North Korea is on the verge of running out of food altogether. The report said that the north’s government stocks of food will dry up by June 20, although some people and organizations may have their own provisions.