Searches of N. Korean Ships Sticky Issue

A Chinese fishing boat passes by North Korean vessels docked along the waterfront of the North Korean city of Sinuiju opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong in northeast China, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2006. China is balking at stopping and searching North Korean ships for banned weapons and materials, creating tension with Washington over U.N. Security Council sanctions for the North's nuclear test. Beijing fears that such searches might trigger military clashes, and that the U.S. may use them to more widely police shipping, analysts said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) (Ng Han Guan - AP)

Song Young-sun, an opposition legislator and defense expert, has raised questions about North Korean ships transiting South Korean waters that are officially declared empty _ which would seem a waste of resources by energy-starved Pyongyang.

Of 136 ships from last year through September that passed through the Jeju Strait separating the southern coast of the peninsula from South Korea's Jeju Island, Song said 24 of 28 empty ships went from the North's western port of Nampo to the eastern port of Kimchaek.

Kimchaek is about 40 miles south of where the North is believed to have conducted its nuclear test; Nampo is about 70 miles south of the North's main nuclear facility at Yongbyon.

Traveling by land between those two sites would be difficult, and Song noted the North's rail lines are decrepit. The country also suffered floods in July that knocked out roads and bridges.

Song also expressed concern that North Korean ships could be masking transit of submarines _ or even that North Korean suicide bombers hiding aboard could speedily cross the narrow strait to the South Korean city of Busan, a key naval headquarters and the country's only deep military port that can service warships.

Song noted the South Korean military had yet to stop and search a single North Korean ship, even though it has the right to do so under a 2005 maritime agreement between the two Koreas.

The South Korean Defense Ministry argued there was no reason to perform such searches yet, although it acknowledged it had the right to do so if it had suspicions or intelligence on possible weapons shipments.

Seoul is coming under more pressure than ever to change that hands-off stance, with the United States calling on South Korea to commit to the Proliferation Security Initiative.

"This is the time for South Korea to become a member," said Kim Tae-woo, a North Korea expert at the South's Korean Institute for Defense Analyses, who has called on Seoul to take a tougher line with the North.

Seoul knows the anti-proliferation initiative infuriates the North _ which lashed out at South Korea in February for simply sending observers to exercises.

The worry here is that things could quickly spiral out of control, with the two Koreas also at odds over how their sea border is defined.

Warships from the North and South have clashed before. Battles as recently as 1999 and 2002 left several sailors dead.

Still, Kim argued, it's time for Seoul to get in step with the international community and stop granting the North concessions without getting anything in return under its reconciliation policy.

"This is a real time for sticks rather than carrots," he said.