S Korean general sacked

SEOUL: A South Korean general was sacked on Wednesday for a lapse in border security after a fishing boat from North Korea managed to cross the intensely monitored sea between the countries and dock undetected.

The military failed to identify the small wooden boat -- carrying four North Koreans -- until a civilian alerted the police after it arrived at a port roughly 160 miles east of Seoul on June 15. Two of the passengers defected to the South, while the other two chose to return to North Korea.

General Lee Jin-sung was fired after an investigation found the military had failed to pick up the vessel, Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said at a press conference. "As a failure in security operations is a serious mistake that cannot be accepted in any circumstances, we have decided to strictly censure those involved," he said. The sacking was confirmed by the South’s Defence Ministry in a separate statement saying the government "will dismiss the army’s eighth corps commander" over the mistake.