South Korea on Wednesday said it hopes that an earlier inter-Korean naval skirmish would not leave any negative impact on the relations between Seoul and Pyongyang.
The government will continue to make every preparation against any possible security problems so the people will not have to fear, but in principle, it does not want the inter-Korean relationship to deteriorate due to the incident, Kim Eun-hye, the spokeswoman of the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, told a press briefing.
The government does not want the incident to become a stumbling block to the improvement of the inter-Korean relations, she added.
Seoul has yet drawn a final conclusion on whether the naval clash was an "accidental event" or an "intended move". The nature of the incident should be further observed, a senior official of Cheong Wa Dae was quoted by local media as saying.
South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s naval boats exchanged fire off west coast of the Korean Peninsula near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) area Tuesday morning. The two sides blamed each other for the clash.
President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency security meeting immediately after receiving the report of the clash, to analyze the incident and make assessment on the impact it will have on inter-Korean relations.
Lee also called Defense Minister Kim Tae-young before the meeting, instructing the military to react decisively but also remain calm to make sure the situation will not get worse.
