S. Koreans fire at plane
Source: Agencies |
June 19, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SOUTH Korean marines fired rifles at a civilian jetliner as it was descending to land after mistaking it for a North Korean military aircraft, the airline said yesterday.
The Asiana Airlines flight carrying 119 people from the Chinese city of Chengdu was undamaged in the incident around dawn Friday, the airline said. No one on board was hurt or aware of the shooting, and the South Korean Marine Corps informed the airline of it later in the day, it said.
The incident highlights how persistent tensions between the two Koreas create the chance of dangerous miscalculation. The Korean peninsula has remained in a technical state of conflict since the Korean War ended in 1953, and a peace treaty has never been signed.
"The Marine Corps did fire, but they misidentified the plane," Asiana spokesman Jason Kim said. "The plane did not suffer any damage and it landed safely."
Two marine guards stationed on Gyodong island near the border fired rifle rounds at the flight as it approached Incheon International Airport west of Seoul, mistaking it for a North Korean military plane, Yonhap news agency reported, citing a military source it did not identify. The jet was flying out of range of the rifle fire, the report said.
The airport is about 40 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border.
Yonhap quoted its source as saying the marines claimed the plane was flying off course. However, an official with the Seoul Regional Aviation Administration said that radar showed the aircraft was not off course.
South Korea's Defense Ministry and Marine Corps could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The Asiana Airlines flight carrying 119 people from the Chinese city of Chengdu was undamaged in the incident around dawn Friday, the airline said. No one on board was hurt or aware of the shooting, and the South Korean Marine Corps informed the airline of it later in the day, it said.
The incident highlights how persistent tensions between the two Koreas create the chance of dangerous miscalculation. The Korean peninsula has remained in a technical state of conflict since the Korean War ended in 1953, and a peace treaty has never been signed.
"The Marine Corps did fire, but they misidentified the plane," Asiana spokesman Jason Kim said. "The plane did not suffer any damage and it landed safely."
Two marine guards stationed on Gyodong island near the border fired rifle rounds at the flight as it approached Incheon International Airport west of Seoul, mistaking it for a North Korean military plane, Yonhap news agency reported, citing a military source it did not identify. The jet was flying out of range of the rifle fire, the report said.
The airport is about 40 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border.
Yonhap quoted its source as saying the marines claimed the plane was flying off course. However, an official with the Seoul Regional Aviation Administration said that radar showed the aircraft was not off course.
South Korea's Defense Ministry and Marine Corps could not be reached for comment yesterday.
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