Part of Korean Conflict
Date 22 June 1998 Location Offshore of Sokcho, Gangwon-do Result Loss of North Korean submarine and personnel
Belligerents
South Korea	North Korea
Strength
1 Pohang-class corvette	1 Yugo-class submarine
Casualties and losses
None	1 submarine captured 9 dead (5 executed, 4 by suicide)

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 kilometres (11 mi) east of the port of Sokcho and 33 kilometres (21 mi) 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.^[1][2] 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.^[3]

On 23 June, the Korean Central News Agency admitted that a submarine had been lost in a training accident.^[4]

On 25 June, the submarine was salvaged from a depth of approximately 30 metres (100 ft) and the bodies of nine crewmen were recovered; five sailors had apparently been killed while four agents had apparently committed suicide.^[5] The presence of South Korean drinks suggested that the crew had completed an espionage mission.^[6] Log books found in the submarine showed that it had infiltrated South Korean waters on a number of previous occasions.^[7]

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.^[8]