South Korea troops on high alert after navy battle

The ships were about two miles (3.2 kilometers) apart during the clash, South Korean Rear Adm. Lee Ki-sik told reporters.

North Korea's military said its ship was attacked by South Korean vessels as it was returning from checking on "an unidentified object that intruded" into its waters.

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-chan said Tuesday the North Koreas may have been clamping down on Chinese fishing vessels in the area, and probably did not intend to violate the border.

Some South Korean analysts, however, said North Korea was sending a clear message ahead of Obama's two-day visit starting next Wednesday.

"It was an intentional provocation by North Korea to draw attention ahead of Obama's trip," said Shin Yul, a political scientist at Seoul's Myongji University.

Traveling with Obama on Air Force One, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the administration was aware of the clash and urged North Korea not to escalate tensions.

The two Koreas are still technically at war and the U.S., which fought as part of U.N. forces on South Korea's side, has never had diplomatic relations with North Korea.

Washington has consistently said that Pyongyang must abandon its nuclear arsenal for any peace treaty to be concluded. North Korea has conducted two underground nuclear tests since 2006 and is believed to have enough weaponized plutonium for half a dozen atomic weapons.

The U.S. will send Bosworth to North Korea in part of its efforts to get the North to return stalled six-nation nuclear talks involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and China.

Some analysts said the clash could have been accidental.

"This is not the first naval incident, and it is a border area where both sides have different claims," Charles Morrison, president of the Honolulu-based East-West Center, said in Singapore. "So it's possible it's an error."

South Korea's military said North Korean ships have violated the sea border 22 times this year. North Korea last month accused South Korean warships of broaching its territory and warned of a clash.

No South Koreans were killed in 1999, but six South Korean sailors died in 2002, according to the South Korean navy. It said exact North Korean causalities remain unclear.

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