Moscow is seriously concerned with the Yellow Sea incident

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated in connection with the armed clash between border guard ships of North and South Korea in the Yellow Sea on Saturday that Moscow "was seriously concerned" with the incident which entailed casualties. It happened in an area of the sea where the armistice line between North and South Korea is not delimited.

According to the assessment of the situation made by the Russian Foreign Ministry, such events "went contrary to sentiments of reconciliation and cooperation which were carving their way in Korea in the wake of the historical meeting between the leaders of North and South Koreas in June 2002." The statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry declared that Russia sincerely wished to see continuation of the peace dialogue and co-operation between Pyongyang and Seoul and appealed to both countries "to demonstrate wisdom and tolerance, to investigate reasons of such a regrettable outbreak of confrontation and not to allow its escalation."