South Korea hands Yellow Sea islands over to North Korea

Or at least, that's what Google Maps would have you believe.

So I was looking for an aerial view of Paengnyŏng-do the other day. That's one of the Sŏhae-odo (서해5도), the so-called "Five Islands of the West Sea" which are technically a part of the City of Inch'ŏn (인천광역시) but hug the coast of North Korea.

The Northern Limit Line (or NLL, the blue line above), which has formed the de facto maritime border between the ROK and DPRK since the Korean War armistice in 1953, is drawn in such a way that these islands form what would be a "natural" maritime border, one that follows the universally accepted principle of equidistance from populated land on the North Korean and South Korean sides.

The North Koreans, however, insist on the red line in the graphic. It ignores South Korea's Five Islands of the West Sea and runs equidistant from the mainland, with corridors South Korea can use to access its islands (and fish, presumably). It has become a very contentious issue lately, and North Korea has used it as a pretext to attack Yŏnpyŏng-do, ostensibly to sink the Ch'ŏnan, and engage in other sea battles out there.

Note that these islands are not disputed territory (former US Ambassador to South Korea Donald Gregg's words notwithstanding), and they were ROK-held even before the Korean War (the islands and the Ongjin Peninsula just above them are south of the 38°N line (the Thirty-eighth Parallel) that was Korea's Mason-Dixon Line (the KNTO should put a sign up like that: "Welcome to 38-Line! It's Mason-dixon Line of Korea!" including those capitalization and article errors).

And so that makes it quite odd that Google Maps would list this key territory (one that makes Inchon a very long city, though not as long as Honolulu) as North Korean. You see, as I typed P-a-e-n-g-n-y-o-n-g, a list with various options for my search would pop up, each selection getting more precise and specific as I went along. Finally, Google Maps offered "Paengnyong Do North Korea." There was no biased input on my part.

Interestingly, though, if I use the Revised Romanization and type Baengnyeong (the Paengnyong spelling is based on McCune-Reischauer), a proper South Korean address appears. Hmm...

Google Maps doesn't list Yonpyong-do, but asks if you are looking for Yeonpyeong Do, which it lists as in South Korea. However, check out the list if you type in Y-e-o-n-p-y-e-o-n-g and see what pops up:

Yup. Check out number four. That "Yeonpyeong-ri" is the principal village on Yŏnpyŏng-do Island, and Google Maps has it listed as North Korean territory. Below is visual verification.

This is very sloppy work on the part of Google. What's next? Saying Calexico is part of Mexico just because they rhyme? (Though frankly, they can have it.)

Mapapropisms can happen to anyone, even some big names in media. The BBC apparently sent a drunken Mancunian out on a dinghy to redraw the NLL, and the Wall Street Journal ceded the US territory of Saipan to South Korea. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.

But don't worry. I'm not going to go all VANK on Google (although I wouldn't rule out VANK going all VANK, since that's what they do). But it does make me wonder: Can I now no longer trust the accuracy of what I find when I search on the Google?

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Ain't misbehavin'... much

According to the Chosun Ilbo, North Korea has actually committed far fewer incursions over the Northern Limit Line*, the de facto border since the end of the Korean War which Pyongyang has been adamantly disputing as of late:

North Korean violations of the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto maritime border, have decreased to one-sixth the frequency of last year since January.

According to data the Joint Chiefs of Staff submitted to Future Hope Alliance lawmaker Song Young-sun on Tuesday, violations of the NLL by North Korean patrol and fishing boats grew from 21 in 2006 to 95 times in 2010. But there have been only 16 so far this year.

North Korean patrol boats crossed the NLL 11 times in 2006 and 13 times in 2010 but only five times this year.

I guess the Lee Myungbak's limp-wristed response to the sinking of the Ch'ŏnan and the shelling of Yŏnpyŏng-do is working!

(Oh, by the way, I was being sarcastic.)

* Do not go here for a map of the NLL. It's the blue line in the graphic above, but the Norks insist on the red line. For a translation of the Korean text in the graphic, go spend two hours learning the frickin' alphabet. 

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Holy backfiring North Korean hijinks, Fatman!

So, North Korea sinks a South Korean vessel, and then later bombs Yŏnpyŏng-do, killing military and civilians... The end result may be US troops stationed on the forward-situated "Five Islands of the West Sea" (서해오도):

South Korea plans to build barracks for US troops on an island near the tense sea border with North Korea in case of emergency or military drills, according to the defence ministry.

The barracks will be built on Baengnyeong, a front-line island and flashpoint in the Yellow Sea, a ministry spokesman told AFP.

"US soldiers will use the barracks during joint military drills or in case of emergency," he said, declining to give details.

The South will start building the barracks capable of housing some 160 US soldiers next year and construction will be completed by 2013, Yonhap news agency said.

This makes me happy. North Korea needs to see consequences for its actions, and if its outbursts over the NLL are met with a bolstering of US and ROK defenses, that's great.

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Selig Harrison proposes giving North Korea a Sudetenland-by-the-Sea

Writing in the New York Times, Pyongyang apologist Selig Harrison (see him skewered here) proposes that all this mess in the Yellow Sea could be over if South Korea agrees is forced to move the border "slightly to the south":

The Obama administration would do well to consult with both Seoul and Pyongyang on where to best set the new boundary, get an agreement from both governments to abide by it, and put it on the map. South Korea should not be given a veto over the redrawing. And North Korea should be warned that any future provocations on its part like the shelling of Yeonpyeong will result in swift, appropriate retaliation by the joint forces of the United States and South Korea.

Oh, were it not finals week and I had time to give this a proper fisking (which would, believe it or not, be far longer than this already is). Instead, I'll just leave you with a few points why this is wrong, wrong, wrong:

• The notion that South Korea should not have veto power over an agreement that takes away a substantial part of its own waters is simply absurd, even if Seoul in 1953 was not a signatory to the Korean War Armistice.

• To even hint at changing the established spheres of control on either side of the de facto maritime border (i.e., the Northern Limit Line, or NLL) would simply be rewarding North Korea for murderously acting out repeatedly.

• The NLL is a proper border in that it follows the universally accepted principle of equidistance from populated land on the North Korean and South Korean sides, land North Korea has recognized as South Korea's. Like it or not, the Five Islands of the West Sea [서해 5도] that include Yŏnpyŏng-do [Yeonpyeong] generate substantial territorial waters and EEZ for South Korea. This is not some unfair outcome of the Korean War (which North Korea started) since the Ongjin Peninsula just north of them and under North Korean control was originally South Korean territory south of the 38° Parallel. Simply put, the NLL is where it a maritime border would be were these two countries not military and political rivals.

• Any change to the line of control would endanger South Korea's actual land territories (e.g., the Five Islands of the West Sea, and possibly islands closer to the mainland). Unlike Mr Harrison, I'm not optimistic that granting North Korea more fishing waters would be the end of this mess.

Mr Harrison continues to peddle the idea of a North Korea with which we can do business, when the last ten years has taught us that Pyongyang will bite, hit, or otherwise try to sever the hand that feeds it, the hand that threatens to slap it down, or the hand that is held up by the South Korean government as Seoul says "Talk to this."

About the only useful thing in his op-ed is the idea some North Koreans have fed him about what would happen if a peace treaty were successfully negotiated:

One possible mechanism to replace the armistice is the “trilateral peace regime” for the peninsula that has been proposed by North Korea’s principal military spokesman, Gen. Ri Chan-bok. Under the plan, the armed forces of the United States, North Korea and South Korea would set up a “mutual security assurance commission.” Its role would be to prevent incidents in the demilitarized zone that could threaten the peace and to develop arms-control and confidence-building arrangements on the peninsula. General Ri has said explicitly that the North would not object to the presence of American forces on the peninsula if the armistice and the United Nations Command were replaced.

I'm a big believer in the Pax Americana's past, present, and future ability to keep Northeast Asia conflict-free, so any proposal that sees the US going bye-bye from South Korea is to me a nonstarter. I have no doubt Mr Harrison has been told that North Korea would accept a US military presence in a post-Peace Treaty Korea, but I'm not so sure they really would simply let it be. After all, the US is one of North Korea's bogeyman around which it constructs a justification for the Songun [선군, Military First] Policy, its raison d'être. No doubt the "puppet of the imperialists" rhetoric would continue unabated.

In the meantime, although part of me wants to believe in his cherry-flavored analysis, but it's more likely the eternal optimist is simply a useful idiot or possibly on the take.

UPDATE:
Or possibly a North Korean operative.

UPDATE 2:
Jack Pritchard, president of the Korea Economic Institute, has an article in the January 5 edition of the Korea Herald which also skewers Mr Harrison's proposal.

Yes, North Korea really did threaten a second and third "strong physical retaliatory blow"

As first noted in the LAT article, the KCNA did indeed report that the Korean People's Army has threatened further attacks. The same article blames (again) South Korea for firing into "the territorial waters of the DPRK" (actually waters south of the NLL controlled by South Korea since the Korean War) and blames the US for not keeping its dog on a leash (a criticism I've made of China).

For your edification (with italicized editorial content added):

Panmunjom Mission of KPA Sends Notice to U.S. Forces Side

Pyongyang, November 25 (KCNA) -- As already reported, the south Korean puppet war-like forces Tuesday committed another grave military provocation such as firing shells into the territorial waters of the DPRK side in the West Sea of Korea.

The revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK took a prompt and resolute physical counter-action against the provocateurs who dared fire even shells into the territorial waters of the DPRK side while staging the maneuvers for a war of aggression against it codenamed Hoguk.

This once again confirmed the unshakable stand of the army of the DPRK not to allow even in the least anyone to encroach upon its inviolable territorial waters.

There came from the U.S. forces side a notice blaming the DPRK under the absurd charge that the recent shelling took place in the area under its military control and it was a "violation of the Armistice Agreement." [Kushibo's note: I'm surprised they even acknowledge the US position as strongly as they do.]

The Panmunjom Mission of the Korean People's Army today sent the following notice to the U.S. forces side in connection with its attempt to misrepresent the incident, while thoughtlessly shielding the south Korean puppet forces who dared make a preempt shelling at the DPRK:

The south Korean puppet warmongers' firing of shells into the territorial waters of the DPRK side in the West Sea of Korea [actually South Korea-controlled waters south of the NLL] on Nov. 23 was a premeditated and deliberate military provocation from A to Z and a war action in fact [It might be easier to just list what is not a military provocation or war action, since it seems to be anything Seoul ever does].

On Nov. 22, the south Korean puppet forces made no scruple of announcing that they would fire shells into the territorial waters of the DPRK side with artillery pieces they deployed on Yonphyong Island while staging Hoguk exercises for a war of aggression against the DPRK [note that South Korea defending its own waters is now labeled an act of war for which Pyongyang sees fit to launch actual military assaults], straining the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

In this connection the DPRK side sent a telephone notice to the south Korean puppet military at 8 a.m. on Nov. 23, strongly urging it to immediately cancel the plan for firing shells into the territorial waters of the DPRK side. In the notice the DPRK side seriously warned that if it paid no heed to this demand, it would face a resolute physical counter-strike and would be held fully responsible for all the ensuing consequences [How did we know that this time you would actually mean it? And why did it have to involve killing civilians?].

The south Korean puppet forces, obsessed by hysteria for invasion of the DPRK [I'm sure you like thinking that, but the truth is your own actions are making it more likely], committed such reckless military provocation as preempting the firing of shells into the territorial waters of the DPRK side in the West Sea of Korea by mobilizing artillery pieces deployed on Yonphyong Island, defying the repeated efforts made by the DPRK to prevent military conflicts and preserve peace and stability in the said waters.

The island, therefore, played the role of an outpost from which a military provocation was perpetrated against the DPRK and it deserved punishment meted out by the army of the DPRK according to its self-defensive measure. ["The island... deserved punishment." Why do I feel like I'm in an episode of Lost?]

The Panmunjom Mission of the KPA in the notice particularly emphasized the fact that the U.S. forces side, too, is to blame for the incident.

The West Sea of Korea turned into disputed waters always fraught with the danger of confrontation and clash between the north and the south because of the illegal "northern limit line" unilaterally fixed by the U.S. inside the territorial waters of the DPRK. The U.S., therefore, cannot evade the blame for the recent shelling. [Is there anything the US can't be blamed for?]

If the U.S. forces side truly desires the detente on the Korean Peninsula, it should not thoughtlessly shelter the south Korean puppet forces but strictly control them [Change US to China and south to North and you've got yourself change I can believe in] so that they may not commit any more adventurous military provocations such as intruding into the waters of the DPRK side and shelling for the purpose of defending the illegal "northern limit line".

The prevailing situation goes to prove that it is the south Korean puppet forces which actually violated the Armistice Agreement and it was none other than the U.S. which sparked off the conflict in the above-said waters. [War is peace. Freedom is slavery. We have always been at war with Southkorea.]

This being a hard reality, the U.S. and the south Korean puppet forces are foolishly contemplating an additional provocation aimed to orchestrate another farce and charade such as the "Cheonan" case while kicking up rows and holding confabs one after another such as the declaration of a "state of emergency" and "a meeting of ministers in charge of security," far from drawing due lesson from the recent shelling.

The Korean People's Army will deal without hesitation the second and third strong physical retaliatory blow if the south Korean puppet warmongers commit another reckless military provocation out of all reason. [The money shot.]

The U.S. would be well advised to drop its inveterate bad habit of pulling up others, falsifying the truth about the situation. 

This would be hilarious if it weren't so serious. The second to the last paragraph makes clear that they are intending further attacks. The conditional (i.e., "if South Korea doesn't commit another provocation") is an impossibility, given that they have defined South Koreans patrolling the waters south of the de facto border — i.e., maintaining the integrity of its own territory — as a "provocation."

South Korea has two choices: Hold its ground (so to speak) and risk another military confrontation, or give in to threats of military confrontation and undermine control of its own waters.

LAT and Gregg get it wrong (and so does Pyongyang) on any North Korean claim to Yŏnpyŏng-do

In the Los Angeles Times, John Glionna and Ethan Kim write about Yŏnpyŏng-do Island's [Yeonpyeong] history as a hot spot:

Just three miles across -- part military outpost, part civilian fishing village -- Yeonpyeong is the closest South Korean island to North Korea, just a few nautical miles from the barricaded shores of Kim Jong Il's secretive regime.

For half a century, the two sides have skirmished repeatedly over the archipelago, a tug of war that includes everything from sovereignty to the local catch of blue Kumori crab prized by both sides. In 1999 and 2002, the rivals' navies clashed near Yeonpyeong, resulting in numerous casualties.

Well, right there there's a mistake. Several islands nearer to the ROK mainland are close enough to North Korea that you could swim (if you were so inclined). I believe Kanghwa-do [Ganghwa] is the closest, and Kyodong-do [Gyodong] just to the west of that is also practically on top of North Korean territory.

'Bo knows geography (and 'Bo and his future ex-fiancée, in the days before GPS, nearly drove right into a ROK military guard on the northern side of Kanghwa-do one night).

On the map of Yŏnpyŏng-do on the same scale just to the right, note the distance from that island to the North. Not only is it farther to the North Korean mainland, even that tiny islet to the north is farther away than the North Korean mainland is to either Kanghwa-do or Kyodong-do.

But that's not my main beef. It would appear that the LAT reporters and the former US Ambassador to South Korea got it wrong on North Korea's claim to Yŏnpyŏng-do:

The bone of contention is the so-called Northern Limit Line, an invisible boundary established by the United Nations at the cessation of the Korean War.

But North Korea has long rejected that decision, claiming that the maritime border exists farther to the south. Yeonpyeong Island, Pyongyang insists, is part of its territory. A newscaster in North Korea this week again made that point, calling the attack a tactic to protect its island from the south.

"The island is a hot spot -- both sides claim it," said Donald Gregg, a former U.S. ambassador to Seoul in the George W. Bush administration. "That whole area of the western sea boundary has been very difficult. It's a tough stretch of water, and Yeonpyeong sits right in the middle of it."

Insofar as the DPRK proclaims all of ROK-held territory as its own, it also claims Yŏnpyŏng-do. But as far as the 1953 Korean War Armistice Agreement is concerned, that island is firmly in South Korea's hands:

(b) Within ten (10) days after this armistice agreement becomes effective, withdraw all of their military forces, supplies, and equipment from the rear and the coastal islands and waters of Korea of the other side. If such military forces are not withdrawn within the stated time limit, and there is no mutually agreed and valid reason for the delay, the other side shall have the right to take any action which it deems necessary for the maintenance of security and order. The term "coastal islands", as used above, refers to those islands, which, though occupied by one side at the time when this armistice agreement becomes effective, were controlled by the other side on 24 June 1950; provided, however, that all the islands lying to the north and west of the provincial boundary line between HWANGHAE-DO and KYONGGI-DO shall be under the military control of the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army and the Commander of the Chinese People's volunteers, except the island groups of PAENGYONG-DO (37 58' N, 124 40' E), TAECHONG-DO (37 50' N, 124 42' E), SOCHONG-DO (37 46' N, 124 46' E), YONPYONG-DO (37 38' N, 125 40' E), and U-DO (37 36'N, 125 58' E), which shall remain under the military control of the Commander-in-Chief, United Nations Command. All the island on the west coast of Korea lying south of the above-mentioned boundary line shall remain under the military control of the Commander-in-Chief, United Nations Command. (See Map 3).

The emphasis, of course, is mine. I wonder if Messieurs Glionna and Kim did not discover this bit of evidence because the "new" Revised Romanization system spells the island in question entirely different from the (much better IMnsHO) McCune-Reischauer-based spelling that prevailed in the past.

In other words, North Korea and China both signed an agreement recognizing Yŏnpyŏng-do as South Korea-controlled territory. They have no legitimate claim to taking it back. None. Zero. Nada. South Korea's ownership is obvious, also, even in maps of the maritime border proposed by North Korea, which rejects the NLL that has formed the de facto border since the war.


The blue line is the NLL, a line that is basically follows the principle of equidistance between DPRK territory and ROK territory. The five outlying islands (서해 5도, Sŏhae-odo) that are firmly under South Korean control (and where ROK civilians live and work) project maritime territory that North Korea wants.

By contrast, North Korea proposes the red line, which follows the principal of equidistance from the Korean mainland, allowing for a corridor of access to each of the ROK islands that are on "North Korea's side" of that line. Note that North Korea's proposal runs completely counter to international norms, nor does it actually control any of the waters it is claiming that are south of the NLL.

North Korea has for some time been pushing the idea that the NLL is unfair and should be reworked. While originally behaving relatively diplomatically in that push, it has at least since the late 1990s been acting out militarily in support of its claim, with occasional NLL crossings and even random shelling of the South Korean side of the NLL.

But this is now a bit of a game changer. I will look for the KCNA report myself (I just don't trust anyone, especially journalists, to tell me what something says unless I read it myself), but if North Korea is suggesting that Yŏnpyŏng-do specifically needs to be liberated, and in light of their apparent threats of a second and third attack, we may have a real mess on our hands. Doing nothing will definitely not be the correct course of action.

What needs to be done about North Korea's repeated attacks

The Marmot has an updated post on President Lee Myungbak's anger and his options. An excerpt:

The failure to respond in a meaningful way to things that deserve a response seems to just embolden Pyongyang, however, and one day, they’re going to miscalculate and do something that can’t be ignored. If the North thinks it can get away with an artillery barrage on a civilian community, I shudder to image what they’ll try next.

Kushibo concurs.

Kushibo was a supporter of Kim Daejung's (but not Roh Moohyun's) Sunshine Policy (and I do believe we will see its positive externalities down the road, especially in the form of a political, social, and economic integration of North Koreans that is far less difficult than it otherwise would have been), but I've always believed the carrot cannot be placed too far from the stick.

If yesterday's Yŏnpyŏng-do attack had not occurred after what was ultimately a milquetoast response to the sinking of the Ch'ŏnan and a promise to really really get mad if something like that happened again, I could understand an argument for a wait-and-see approach.

But North Korea has driven us into a corner: They killed four dozen ROK military personnel and we did nothing, and now they've upped the ante with an attack on sovereign and undisputed ROK territory in which not only were ROK military personnel killed again, but civilians were also attacked. This cannot stand. If it goes unanswered, it is clear that it will almost certainly happen again.

Bearing in mind that a military response may be what North Korea's leadership is trying to elicit from us, and economic damage to South Korea may be a fringe benefit of their machinations, the South Korean response must be clear, meaningful, strategic, and proportionate to both attacks.

What Kushibo recommends is that sometime within the next week next day or so, the South Korean military (without the direct involvement of the US military, unless the ROK military is lacking in some necessary component) must do the following:

1. take out the military capabilities from which the artillery strikes on Yŏnpyŏng-do Island took place
2. take out the military capabilities from which the attack on the Ch'ŏnan took place
3. take out all the military capabilities on North Korea's southwest coast from which it can conduct such attacks on South Korean civilians or military in the outlying islands of Ongjin-gun County and the surrounding waters on the South Korean side of the Northern Limit Line, especially those south-of-NLL waters that North Korea does not dispute

At the bare minimum, #1 and #2 should be done. And of course, this should be done with minimal collateral damage, even to the bases themselves but especially to civilians in the area. The focus is on removing capabilities, and limiting loss of life even on the North Korean side should be a priority. We are not monsters.

Meanwhile, in case you need some red meat to build up the courage for the Kushibo Plan, here's a video of a local myŏn (township) on Yŏnpyŏng-do being attacked (courtesy of The Marmot's Hole):

Holy sh¡t! North Korea shells South Korean island! Is this war?

This has just left me... Whiskey tango fu¢k!

From Yonhap:

North Korea on Tuesday fired dozens of rounds of artillery toward South Korean waters and an island near the tense west sea border, the South's military said, leaving at least four South Korean soldiers wounded.

The North's artillery shells started falling in the South's waters off the island of Yeonpyeong from around 2:34 p.m., some of them landing directly on the island, said Col. Lee Bung-woo, spokesman for the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The South's military fired back some 80 rounds, he said.

The military is on its highest peacetime alert, he said. The Air Force has deployed fighter jets to the island.

One marine was critically wounded and three others sustained minor injuries, according to Lee. It was not immediately known whether there were civilian casualties. TV footage showed plumes of smoke rising from the island. Island residents said people are being told to evacuate. Officials said the North's shelling was intermittently continuing and that the South was also responding with return fire.

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said it was looking into the possibility that the North's firing was in protest to an ongoing South Korean military drill on the western coast. The "Hoguk Exercise," one of South Korea's three major annual defense exercises, began Monday with some 70,000 troops participating.

The North had sent a message to Seoul denouncing the exercise earlier in the day, Cheong Wa Dae said.

The president convened an emergency meeting of security ministers and instructed the government to ensure that the situation is contained.

The news may deal a blow (temporarily at least) to the economy. From the WSJ Marketwatch:

The news sent the Korean won falling against the U.S. dollar in forward trade, with the greenback rising to 1,155 won compared to Tuesday's spot close of 1,137 won, according to Dow Jones Newswires. [HT to Simpsons-l friend Marc]

I really don't know what to say. I hope and pray no civilians were killed, but even if casualties are limited, this can't be considered anything but an act of war. Yŏnpyŏng-do [listed as Yeongpyeong Island in the map below] is not disputed territory, nor are the waters immediately around it (even if the NLL is itself declared illegitimate by the North).

We all talked about what South Korea should do if North Korea again pulled something like the Ch'ŏnan sinking, but this is it, especially if people died.

Part of me says, at least just go all out and completely take out the positions that are firing on ROK territory. But for now, I'm guessing it's prudent to go no further; it's entirely possible that a strong military attack on DPRK positions is exactly what the North is trying to engineer. Still, gotta do something or else this will keep happening again and again.

UPDATE:
Robert at The Marmot's Hole is staying on top of this. AP (via WaPo) also has the story. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a ROK Marine has died. More links at the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, CNN, and Reuters.

The BBC has some more information:

A resident on the island told the agency that dozens of houses were damaged, while television pictures reportedly showed plumes of smoke rising above the island.

"Houses and mountains are on fire and people are evacuating. You can't see very well because of plumes of smoke," a witness on the island told YTN television station.

"People are frightened to death and shelling continues as we speak," the witness said.

The 1200 residents of Yŏnpyŏng-do, as well as those on Paengnyŏngdo and the other South Korean islands that skirt North Korea's southwestern coast, have always known they were in a danger zone (as is anyone who lives so close to the DMZ), but that's no justification for attacking civilians.

UPDATE 2:
Here's the CNN report with Andrew Salmon:

NYT's Choe Sanghun on the sinking of the Chonan

The sinking of the Chonan and the aftermath, one of the worst military disasters in South Korean history,  has inevitably caught the attention of global media, who are not content to just run an AP, Reuters, or AFP article on the topic.

And we can expect them to keep paying attention for a few days while Seoul sorts this whole mess out. There is a very big story buried inside this tragedy: Was this an attack by the North or was this error on the South's part, and if it's the former, why is Seoul being so coy about it? Well, the answer could be that they're being careful, but for many impatient people, it seems there are two choices: Is this a government cover-up (about the North's aggression) or a government fu¢k-up (about the South's mistakes)?

At any rate, Choe Sanghun at the New York Times had his piece today, which is a good overview of what we know so far:

Fierce waves hampered efforts to examine the 1,200-ton corvette Cheonan underwater or find more survivors until weather improved on Sunday.

No new survivors, nor any bodies, have been found since 58 of the ship’s 104 sailors were plucked alive on Friday evening. Relatives of the missing sailed overnight aboard a military ship, arriving at the scene of the sinking on Sunday.

“I heard a terrible explosion and the ship keeled suddenly to the right. We lost power and telecommunications,” Choi Won-il, captain of the Cheonan, told the relatives. “I was trapped in the cabin for five minutes before my colleagues broke the window in and let me out. When I got out, the stern had already broken away and disappeared underwater.”

Most of those missing were believed to have been trapped inside their rapidly sinking ship as waters gushed into their dark under deck, officials said.

“Many sailors were hanging onto the bow of the sinking ship,” Kim Jin-ho, a crewman on a civilian ferry to Baengnyeong, a South Korean border island, told YTN television, describing the rescue scene on Friday night. “They were shouting for help. They were falling into water.”

The sinking of the ship near the disputed sea border, where the navies of the two Koreas have fought bloody skirmishes, raised the possibility of a North Korean torpedo attack or sabotage. The South Korean defense minister, Kim Tae-young, told Parliament that the authorities would investigate such a possibility but emphasized that it was too early to connect the sinking to North Korea.

It should be noted that not all the waters in the Yellow Sea are disputed. The North does not recognize the Northern Limit Line (NLL), instead granting South Korea the waters around the islands it controls and a corridor to reach them. The corridors are not shown in the map below, but they are shown in the low-resolution black-and-white map found at the link in this paragraph.

By contrast, the South insists, exemplified by the NLL, that it controls the waters according to an equidistant formula calculated from the land each side controls, with the string of inhabited South Korea-held islands stretching out to the west just south of the North Korean mainland (all in the metropolitan boundaries of Inchon, by the way) generating a lot of ROK waters not far from the DPRK mainland.

Given that this was on the southwestern side of Paengnyŏngdo Island (i.e., away from the North Korean mainland), but not too far offshore, I think this was in an area both sides recognize as South Korean waters. I need to check out the coordinates.

The BBC brings a WTF moment on Korean geography

The BBC has a write-up on the overall state of relations between Pyongyang and Seoul. Nothing unpredictable — relations have gone south (ha ha) since conservative Lee Myung-bak took power last year, erasing all the "progress" North Korea had made under the Roh Moo-hyun administration — but a decent, succinct overview nonetheless.

Except for one thing: The BBC have rather botched their map of the Northern Limit Line (NLL; 북방한계선). Note the mini archipelago that runs from Seoul westward, a smattering of ROK-controlled islands which the BBC has placed on the North Korean side of the NLL. 

If you compare the BBC map at left with the one here or here, you can see that the actual NLL is much closer to North Korea's southwestern coastline and that the BBC map was put together by a drunken Mancunian. 

A century from now, the great grandson of Gerry Bevers will offer up this map as proof that Paengyŏngdo, Kanghwado, and several other ROK islands* actually belong to the People's Republic of China's Inner Chosŏn Autonomous Region. 

* Specifically, Taech'ŏngdo, Sochŏngdo, Yŏngp'yŏngdo, and Udo.