1998 Sokcho submarine incident

The 1998 Sokcho submarine incident occurred on 22 June 1998, offshore of the South Korean city of Sokcho.

Capture
On 22 June, a North Korean Yugo-class submarine became entangled in a fishing driftnet in South Korean waters approximately 18 km east of the port of Sokcho and 33 km south of the inter-Korean border. A South Korean fishing boat observed several submarine crewmen trying to untangle the submarine from the fishing net. The South Korean Navy sent a Pohang-class corvette which towed the submarine (with the crew still inside) to a navy base at the port of Donghae. The submarine sank as it was being towed into port; it was unclear if this was as a result of damage or a deliberate scuttling by the crew.

On 23 June, the Korean Central News Agency admitted that a submarine had been lost in a training accident.

On 25 June, the submarine was salvaged from a depth of approximately 100 ft and the bodies of nine crewmen were recovered; five sailors had apparently been killed while four agents had apparently committed suicide. The presence of South Korean drinks suggested that the crew had completed an espionage mission. Log books found in the submarine showed that it had infiltrated South Korean waters on a number of previous occasions.

The bodies of the members of submarine crew were subsequently returned to North Korea in a ceremony that took place in Panmunjom on 3 July 1998.