North Korea - Spies, Subs and South Korean Fishing Nets

Like beached orcas, North Korean spy subs need a new sonar setup. Hooking DPRK submarines is like a little Sunday afternoon bass fishing. In September 1996, a 320-ton North Korean sub found itself inadvertently rubbing the parasites off its belly on a beach along the South's east coast. The ensuing 53-day manhunt for the 26 spies who fled from it resulted in 24 of them being shot dead. In June 1998, a North Korean midget spy sub got itself tangled up in the nets of a South Korean fishing trawler. The nine crew members shot themselves dead rather than be captured. Dolphins don't have that option. The next month, the corpse of an armed DPRK commando was found near South Korea's Tonghae naval base, along with his tiny sub, which had room enough for four others-who can probably be found right now scarfing down a bowl of cold buckwheat noodles at Okryukwan.