South Korea's Defense Minister has addressed the situation surrounding a North Korean fishing boat that drifted into South Korean waters and ran ashore undetected in Gangwon-do Province.
The boat and its crew... remained there until Saturday morning,... and it only came to the military's attention following a report by a civilian.
During a biannual meeting of some 150 top commanders on Wednesday, Jeong Kyeong-doo said it was a very grave situation... He added those responsible for not spotting the boat will be reprimanded ... reversing the military's previous stance.
He called for proactive measures to prevent a similar incident happening again.

"Even if the military has done a hundred good deeds... if there's a loophole in security operations... the military will lose the public's trust. Rather than blaming its equipment,... the military should tighten its operational and work discipline."

The meeting was initially aimed at monitoring the South Korean military's efforts to carry out the government's comprehensive Defense Reform 2-point-0 scheme, a five-year plan to modernize the country's defense structure.