Seoul - North Korean fishing boats briefly moved up to the Yellow Sea boundary with South Korea yesterday but the North's navy was keeping its distance, a Seoul official said.
South Korean boats sank a North Korean gunboat and heavily damaged several others on Tuesday in the first naval clash between the Koreas in the Yellow Sea since their 19501953 war, which ended in a truce.
In a sign of easing tensions, however, South Korea said a ship carrying 14,000 tonnes of fertiliser, which had been called back on Tuesday, departed for North Korea yesterday. The boat will cross the Yellow Sea boundary at around 8:20 a.m. today, South Korea's unification ministry said.