S.Korean ship sinking, North attack suspected: report

[American Patriot]

Asia RSS Feed

Hopes Dims for Survivors as Sunken South Korean Ship Located

Kurt Achin | Seoul 29 March 2010


South Korean Navy teams have located the wreckage of a patrol vessel that sunk Friday after an apparent explosion. Even as hope dims, the search for survivors, and an explanation, goes on.

Naval rescue teams have located the hull of the vessel, which went down near a disputed maritime border with North Korea.

South Korea's government insists it will keep trying to find survivors of Friday's accident in waters west of the peninsula, despite indications a race against time may be coming to an end.

Rear Admiral Lee Ki-Shik, with South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, says no survivors were found Monday.

Lee says divers reached the hull of the ship and knocked on it for several minutes, but heard no response. He says the divers' time was limited by their oxygen supply, and that the day's efforts would be ending soon due to disappearing sunlight and visibility.

Fifty-eight of the 104 sailors aboard the vessel were rescued Friday. Relatives of the missing 46 have vented anger at the government for what they describe as a lack of transparency in its response to the sinking.

If anyone was trapped on the ship, South Korean officials estimate there may be enough oxygen in watertight compartments for them to survive for as long as 69 hours.

The ship sank in one of the world's tensest maritime regions, where Pyongyang has long disputed a U.N.-mandated sea border. South Korean officials say it is unlikely North Korea attacked the ship.

South Korea's Defense Minister told lawmakers it is also unlikely the ship made contact with a South Korean mine. They have not yet ruled out the possibility the ship hit a North Korean mine, possibly unaccounted for from the 1950s Korean War.

Meanwhile, North Korea threatened "unpredictable incidents" if South Korea and the United States did not stop allowing tourists and journalists to visit the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula.

North Korean state media warned of a possible loss of lives because of the tours, which it says violate the armistice that ended combat in the Korean War in 1953. The tours have gone on for decades.

[Ryan Ruck]

The Cheonan split in two and started sinking shortly after an explosion at the stern around 9 p.m., according to the ship’s captain, Choi Won Il, who was among 58 survivors.

That almost sounds like a torpedo attack to me...







I would imagine a 60 year old mine would be somewhat of a dud or cause damage nearer the front of the ship (assuming forward travel) that could be mitigated by closing water tight compartments. Although, the Cheonan is a smaller ship so a functioning mine that may have been designed for larger ships might cause more massive damage than could be countered.

An interesting paper detailing mine warfare during the Korean War - http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/korea/minewar.htm

[Malsua]

S.K. Navy rules out internal explosion as cause of ship sinking
By Lee Chi-dong SEOUL, March 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Navy has tentatively concluded that the sinking of a warship last week was not due to an internal explosion, according to a top presidential official Tuesday.
In his report to President Lee Myung-bak, Navy chief Kim Sung-chan said it is almost certain that the 1,200-ton vessel Cheonan was torn in two due to "powerful outside pressure or an explosion," according to Lee Dong-kwan, senior secretary for public affairs at the presidential office.

---

[Ryan Ruck]

South Korean President Puts Military On Alert

March 30, 2010

South Korea's president ordered the military on alert today for any moves by rival North Korea after the defense minister said last week's explosion and sinking of a South Korean ship may have been caused by a North Korean mine.

The blast ripped the 1,200-ton ship apart last Friday during a routine patrol mission near Baengnyeong Island, along the tense maritime border west of the Korean peninsula. Fifty-eight crew members, including the captain, were plucked to safety; 46 remain missing with dim prospects for finding any further survivors.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the exact cause was unclear, and U.S. and South Korean officials said there was no outward indication of North Korean involvement.

However, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told lawmakers Monday that a floating mine dispatched from North Korea was one of several scenarios for the disaster. "Neither the government nor the defense ministry has ever said there was no possibility of North Korea's involvement," Kim said.

The two Koreas remain in a state of war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953. North Korea disputes the sea border drawn by the United Nations in 1953, and the western waters near the spot where the Cheonan went down have been the site of three bloody skirmishes between North and South.

"Since the sinking took place at the front line, the military should thoroughly prepare for any move by North Korea," President Lee Myung-bak told his Cabinet, according to his spokesman, Park Sun-kyoo. "I want the military to maintain its readiness."

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the cause of the blast may remain unclear until the ship is salvaged after the rescue operation is over.

Any navy crewmen who managed to seal themselves inside their watertight cabins would have run out of air by Monday night since the supply of oxygen in the cabins was estimated to last up to 69 hours, military officials said.

Military divers were gearing up to break into the ship today, Rear Adm. Lee Ki-sik of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters.

The disaster is one of South Korea's worst. Kim said Monday that the ship may have struck a mine left over from the war or deliberately dispatched from the North.

Many of the 3,000 Soviet-made naval mines North Korea planted in the waters off both coasts during the war were removed, but not all. North Korea may also have sent a mine floating south with the current, he said.

"North Korea may have intentionally floated underwater mines to inflict damage on us," Kim told lawmakers.

He insisted there were no South Korean mines off the west coast, and ruled out a torpedo attack from North Korea, which would have been spotted by radar.

Officials have also said an internal malfunction may be to blame. The 1,200-ton Cheonan is designed to carry weapons. Pyongyang's state media have made no mention of the ship.

Earlier Friday, North Korea's military warned of "unpredictable strikes" if the United States and South Korea attempted to topple the regime. On Monday, a military spokesman accused the countries of engaging in "psychological warfare" by letting journalists into the Demilitarized Zone.

[American Patriot]

Ok... the doomsday clock just moved forward by a second or two.

Ship sinks
Internal explosion ruled out
Probably a mine laid by North Korea
Military placed on Alert.....

[New Guy]

SKorea's Lee vows strong action in ship sinking

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An emotional President Lee Myung-bak vowed Monday that South Korea would respond "resolutely and unwaveringly" against those behind the deadly sinking of a naval ship near the tense maritime border with North Korea.

Seoul has not openly blamed Pyongyang for the March 26 explosion that broke the 1,200-ton Cheonan in two during a routine patrol, killing at least 38 of the 104 sailors on board.

However, officials said they were investigating the possibility that a North Korean naval mine or torpedo may have struck the warship, which went down in Yellow Sea waters where the rival Koreas have clashed three times in the past decade.

The two Koreas remain in a state of war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. North Korea disputes the maritime border drawn by the United Nations at the close of the fighting.

North Korea denied any involvement Saturday and accused the South of spreading false rumors.


The president did not mention North Korea in his address but vowed to deal "resolutely and unwaveringly" with the outcome of the investigation. He pledged to build a stronger military to ensure such an incident never happens again.

"I promise you that as president, I will uncover the cause of the Cheonan's sinking down to the very last detail," Lee said in the 10-minute televised speech.

Wiping away tears with a handkerchief, he read out the names of all the dead and missing sailors. The disaster is among the worst in South Korea's naval history.

"The country that you loved will never forget any of you," he said.

Speculation of North Korean involvement in the blast has mounted since the chief investigator said Friday, after an initial examination of the wreckage, that an external explosion appeared likely. He said it was less likely that munitions stored in the warship or a collision caused the disaster.

A torpedo or mine are among suspected culprits.

"Both are possible, but I think the likelihood of a torpedo is more substantial," Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told lawmakers last week.

He also has said the ship may have been struck by a mine left over from the war, or even deliberately dispatched from the North. North Korea has removed some but not all the 3,000 Soviet-made naval mines the regime planted in the waters off both coasts during the war, he said.

Kim, however, has said there has been no definitive evidence showing North Korea's involvement. He acknowledged during a parliamentary committee meeting Monday that survivors have testified their sonar didn't detect any signs of an approaching torpedo, there was no smell of gunpowder and columns of water were not detected at the time of the blast.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday that no shrapnel of a torpedo or a naval mine has been retrieved from the area yet.

A military commentator quoted in North Korea's state media accused Seoul of seeking to shore up sanctions against the North and to muster conservative votes for upcoming mayoral and gubernatorial elections.

The U.N. Security Council tightened sanctions against North Korea after the regime carried out a nuclear test last year.

South Korea's foreign minister said Seoul would take the issue to the Security Council if North Korea emerges as the culprit behind the sinking of the Cheonan.

Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said it was too early to determine the cause but that the government was bracing for all possible outcomes.

[American Patriot]

President Lee Myung-bak vowed Monday that South Korea would respond "resolutely and unwaveringly" against those behind the deadly sinking of a naval ship near the tense maritime border with North Korea.

"Both are possible, but I think the likelihood of a torpedo is more substantial," Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told lawmakers last week.

Them's fightin' words.

FRAC 'EM ALL!

[American Patriot]

Wonder how deep the water was there. Can they fish up shrapnel with a magnet?

(Just wondering).

[American Patriot]

N.Koreans believe torpedo sank warship: activist


(AFP) – 4 hours ago


SEOUL — North Korean soldiers believe a South Korean warship that sank last month was hit in a premeditated military operation approved by leader Kim Jong-Il, a South Korean activist said on Wednesday.


Pyongyang has denied it was responsible for the mystery blast near their disputed sea border, which left 46 sailors dead and further stoked tensions between the neighbours.
The suggestion that the North may have been responsible came as South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak called the communist North the world's "most belligerent" state.


Choi Sung-Yong, a campaigner for the return of South Koreans abducted by Pyongyang, told AFP: "Despite Pyongyang's denial, many North Korean soldiers believe a torpedo sank the ship."


Choi said his claim was based on a telephone conversation with an unnamed North Korean army officer. South Korean officials refused to comment.


Seoul has so far refrained from pointing the finger at the North over the sinking of the 1,200-tonne Cheonan on March 26 and said only that an "external explosion" was the most likely cause.


Pyongyang has accused Seoul of seeking to shift the blame in order to justify its hardline policy toward its neighbour.


"I heard the ship was sunk in a premeditated operation approved by Kim Jong-Il," Choi said.


The officer had said Kim gave an order to exact revenge for a sea skirmish last November, Choi added.


Choi said 13 commandos using a small submarine appeared to have launched a torpedo attack.


The South's defence minister has already raised the possibility that a mine or torpedo may have sunk the ship, following deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002 and the November firefight.


The November incident left a North Korean patrol boat in flames and local media reports said one North Korean sailor was killed and three wounded.


The North has vowed "merciless" military action to protect its own version of the Yellow Sea border.


South Korea warned Tuesday that stalled nuclear disarmament talks with Pyongyang would not resume if it finds the isolated state was involved in the sinking, and President Lee Wednesday said the incident was a wake-up call.


Lee said South Korea should turn the sinking into "a chance to realise that North Korea, the world's most belligerent force, is very near.


"Our people are oblivious to the fact that there are North Korean troops armed with long-range artillery just 40 miles away."


Lee has vowed a "resolute" response to the Cheonan disaster, the worst peacetime loss of life for South Korea's navy.


Lee also used unusually strong language to denounce the North's extravagant display of fireworks celebrating the April 15 birthday of the state's late founder Kim Il-Sung.
"I believe North Korea should gather its senses," Lee said. "Think how much corn they could have bought with that money."


The North still suffers persistent food shortages, worsened by a bungled currency revaluation last November that sparked rare unrest in the tightly controlled state.
In another sign of the troubles Seoul has with its nuclear-armed nuisance neighbour, South Korean police said Wednesday they had tightened security for a high-ranking North Korean defector after uncovering a plot to kill him.


The authorities arrested two elite North Korean military officers on Tuesday for plotting to assassinate Hwang Jang-Yop after entering South Korea in the guise of defectors.
Hwang, 87, the architect of the North Korean regime's ideology of "juche", or self-reliance, was once secretary of the ruling Workers' Party and a tutor to leader Kim Jong-Il.


He defected in 1997 during a visit to Beijing, becoming the highest-ranking official ever to flee the hardline communist state.

[American Patriot]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...index=0&ned=us


The naval disaster has led to heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula

[American Patriot]

Almost 50 sailors died when the 1,200 tonne warship was sunk on March 26

[vector7]

Is World War Three about to begin on the Korean peninsula?

“North Korea torpedoed South’s navy ship: Report” says the headline currently running on Reuters.

According to the story, the sinking of a South Korean warship on March 26 was the work of a North Korean submarine.

“It is the military intelligence’s assessment that the North attacked with a heavy torpedo,” an unnamed South Korean military source told Yonhap, the news agency. The conclusion is said to be “certain”.

Since I live in Shanghai, just a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Seoul, I suppose I should prepare for the worst. World War Three may shortly arrive.

(Do you think China would cancel the Shanghai World Expo if hostilities break out between the North and South?)

Except, of course, that today’s news is largely meaningless.

There may be some robust accusations here from the South Korean army, but it is worth bearing in mind that sailors on board the South Korean warship did not detect any signs on their sonar of an approaching torpedo.

Nor did investigators find any shrapnel from a torpedo or a mine at the scene. Given that North Korea is not the most technologically-advanced state, and given that its hulking torpedos weigh 440lbs, it is surprising that one managed to slip under the radar, as it were, and then vanish without trace.

The investigation team has said it could take up to a year before it has any conclusive proof of an attack.

And if it turns out that the ship was attacked, what then?

South Korea is unlikely to start a shooting war with its nuclear-armed, highly-unstable neighbour. Even if it wanted to usher in the apocalypse, the United States , China and Japan would surely intervene.

Nor can South Korea impose any punitive sanctions or cut off aid to the North – it has done that already. There’s no aid left to cut. The only response it can give is to work even more closely with the West to bring Kim Jong-il’s regime to task

[vector7]

Seoul denounces N. Korea's seizure of assets at Mount Kumgang

By Byun Duk-kun

SEOUL, April 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea denounced North Korea's decision Friday to seize five South Korean facilities at a mountain resort on its soil and warned that Pyongyang will be held responsible for the deterioration of inter-Korean relations.

"It is an illegal and unreasonable measure that undermines the very foundation of the South-North relations," a spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry said in a statement after Pyongyang said it will seize the South Korean assets at Mount Kumgang.

"The North has proven itself to be an unfit partner for normal business and transactions," it said.

North Korea also said other non-state South Korean assets at Mount Kumgang will be frozen, and that all employees from the South at the resort will be expelled. The measures were seen as aimed at pressuring Seoul to resume the suspended mountain tour program that had been a source of foreign currency for Pyongyang.

Seoul said it will take "strong measures" against the North. It did not elaborate.

"We cannot accept the (North's) measures, as they are in violation of contracts between North Korea and our businesses, agreements between the governments and of international laws. It is an unjust step that undermines the very foundation of South-North relations," a ministry official told reporters.

The North's move came at the end of a two-day inspection by North Korean military officials of the mountain resort, where dozens of South Korean businesses and private investors own various facilities that are part of the suspended tourism program.

The five facilities to be seized include a family reunion center, funded and owned by Seoul's National Red Cross, as well as a fire station and a duty free shop. They also include a cultural center and a hot spring resort, both owned by Seoul's Korea Tourism Organization.

Pyongyang froze the assets, worth some 124 billion won (US$112 million), on April 13 after an on-site inspection by its officials late last month. The latest inspection ended Friday.

"First, we will confiscate all five assets of the South Korean authorities that have already been frozen in compensation for our loss due to the long suspension of the tour," an unidentified spokesman for the General Guidance Bureau for the Development of Scenic Spots said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

The once lucrative tourism program for the impoverished North was suspended in July 2008 after a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean guard near a restricted area. Nearly 2 million South Koreans had visited the mountain resort since the tours began in 1998.

"The confiscated real estate will be put into the possession of the DPRK or handed over to new businessmen according to legal procedures," the statement said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The North said early last month that it will restart the tourism program with a new business partner unless Seoul agreed to resume the tours before the end of April.

"The situation has reached such an extreme phase that it is at the crossroads of a war or peace, much less thinking of the resumption of the tour. It is quite natural that we can no longer show generosity and tolerance to the south side under this situation," the statement said.

Friday's measure also included freezing of all assets owned by over 30 South Korean businesses and private investors.

Hyundai Asan, the main South Korean developer of the joint mountain resort, urged the North to withdraw its decision and the governments of the two Koreas to resolve the issue through dialogue.

"The road to Mount Kumgang must not be severed as the tours greatly helped promote cooperation and reconciliation between the South and the North and peace on the Korean Peninsula," the business group said in a statement.

"We also urge our government to actively seek a solution to the current situation, as the joint economic cooperation project of the South and the North, as well as properties of businesses that invested in Mount Kumgang, now sit on the verge of a breakdown," the statement said.

North Korea also accused the South of trying to link the regime to the recent sinking of a South Korean warship near the tense border with the communist nation in the Yellow Sea.

South Korea "went the lengths of crying out for the total severance of the North-South relations and trumpeting about 'not ruling out a war' while deliberately linking the sinking of its warship to the DPRK," it said.

Suspicions over North Korea's involvement in the March 26 sinking of the warship Cheonan grew after investigators here said an external explosion likely caused the tragic incident that left 39 of the ship's 104 crew confirmed dead and seven others missing.

North Korea said it will take "more rigid follow-up measures" if the Seoul government tries to take any actions against its seizure and freezing of South Korean assets at Mount Kumgang.

[American Patriot]

News is stating this morning that this ship was attacked.

Not only was it attacked by torpedoes... they were manned torpedoes with suicide bombers in them!

The Pentagon and US officials are, for lack if a better word "on high alert" to this information (and believe it very well might be truth)

[Ryan Ruck]

News is stating this morning that this ship was attacked.

Not only was it attacked by torpedoes... they were manned torpedoes with suicide bombers in them!

The Pentagon and US officials are, for lack if a better word "on high alert" to this information (and believe it very well might be truth)

In the famous words of Samuel Jackson in Jurassic Park, "Hold onto your butts!"

[Backstop]

Yep - torpedo.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6460FC20100507

Probe concludes torpedo sank South Korea ship: report

(Reuters) - Investigators probing the deadly sinking of a South Korean navy ship in March near the North have concluded that a torpedo was the source of an explosion that destroyed the vessel, a news report said on Friday.

The team of South Korean and foreign investigators found traces of explosives used in torpedoes on several parts of the sunken ship as well as pieces of composite metal used in such weapons, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said quoting a senior government official.

South Korean officials have not officially accused the North but made little secret of their belief Pyongyang deliberately torpedoed the 1,200-tonne corvette Cheonan in March near their disputed border in retaliation of a naval firefight last year.

The metallic debris and chemical residue appear to be consistent with a type of torpedo made in Germany, indicating the North may have been trying to disguise its involvement by avoiding arms made by allies China and Russia, Yonhap quoted the official as saying.

North Korea has denied involvement and accused South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's government of trying to use the incident for political gains ahead of local elections in June.

[Ryan Ruck]

Not good... Three things I am curious to see.

1) How the SK gov't responds
2) How the SK people respond
3) How NK responds

[vector7]

Torpedo Gunpowder Found in Cheonan Wreckage


englishnews@chosun.com / May 07, 2010 13:20 KST

Traces of gunpowder found in the wreckage of the Navy corvette Cheonan, which sank in an explosion in the West Sea on March 26, came from a torpedo, a government official said Friday.

"Explosive traces found in the Cheonan's chimney and the seabed on which the stern's broken-off side had been lying were all confirmed as those of the high explosive RDX, which is more powerful than TNT," the official told the Yonhap news agency. "This explosive is used in torpedoes, not sea mines." The tiny amount of gunpowder ingredient was detected in the Cheonan's funnel.

RDX stands for "research department explosive." Water is much denser than air and is capable of transferring energy more quickly, but also dissipates faster, with the power of a blast being limited to just between 5 to 6 m, so gunpowder in torpedoes and mines is produced to maximize the power of the blast.

The gunpowder was discovered in the funnel of the vessel, which is unusual given that the Cheonan was split in half in a blast from underneath. Investigators believe traces of gunpowder on the stern and bow of the vessel may have been washed off when the sections shifted position due to the strong currents. But the funnel remained stationary, thereby allowing traces of gunpowder left inside to remain intact.


Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Kim Sung-chan and other senior officials stand at the Daejeon National Cemetery on Thursday in silent tribute to the 46 sailors killed in the Cheonan shipwreck.

Investigators have also identified four pieces of aluminum alloy found at the scene as part of a torpedo. The official told Yonhap the material is an alloy of aluminum and magnesium commonly used in a torpedo's casing.

The pieces were discovered both inside and near the split section of the ship. X-ray and neutron diffraction techniques could determine the manufacturer of the aluminum alloy, making it possible to identify the source of the weapon.

The ministry says another two weeks will be needed to complete the analysis and that an announcement could be made around May 20. The team, which consists of South Korean and U.S. investigators, has been working aboard the South Korean ship Dokdo isolated from contact with the outside. But starting on Friday, investigators are moving to a Navy base in Pyeongtaek, and a number of personnel are expected to leave.

There are rumors that U.S. experts have already reported their findings to American military commanders and government officials and that the probe will be wrapped up soon.

[American Patriot]

The team, which consists of South Korean and U.S. investigators, has been working aboard the South Korean ship Dokdo isolated from contact with the outside.

There are rumors that U.S. experts have already reported their findings to American military commanders and government officials and that the probe will be wrapped up soon.

Really? US is involved?

Well, there won't be a fight now.

[American Patriot]

South Korea closer to blaming North for sinking ship

Jack Kim
SEOUL
Thu May 13, 2010 8:11am EDT




Factbox

• Factbox: Punishment options for South Korea on North3:43am EDT

Mourning messages are placed on a picture of the sunken South Korean naval corvette Cheonan, in central Seoul May 4, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Lee Jae-Won




SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea came closer on Thursday to blaming North Korea for the sinking of a navy ship in March that killed 46 sailors with reports saying it plans economic measures to punish Pyongyang for a suspected torpedo attack.


World | South Korea | North Korea


South Korea has not officially accused the North of sinking its navy ship but has made little secret of its belief Pyongyang deliberately torpedoed the 1,200 corvette Cheonan near their disputed border in retaliation for a naval clash last year.


"The sinking of the Cheonan showed the cold hard realities of division (on the peninsula) for the world to see," South Korea's pointman on the North, Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said in some of the most pointed public comments Seoul has made in implicating Pyongyang.


Officials have previously said the ship was likely hit by a torpedo but have not mentioned the North as being behind the attack.


South Korea was expected to release its findings into the sinking of the Cheonan as early as next week, officials said.


Seoul has indicated it has no plans to launch a revenge strike, easing concerns among investors over a widening conflict that could cripple the South's rapidly recovering economy and deal a blow to other export-driven economies in the region.


South Korea, and ally the United States, have said they would put international nuclear disarmament talks with the North on hold until they find a just response to the sinking.


Local news reports said the South plans to ban private trade between the two Koreas on goods including seafood and sand that goes into making cement, which would bring deeper trouble for the North's failed economy.


North Korea has denied any involvement in the ship's sinking and accused South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's government of trying to use the incident for political gains ahead of local elections in June.


Relations between the two Koreas, still technically at war, have turned increasingly hostile since Lee took office more than two years ago, with the North accusing him of deliberately ruining any chance of peaceful reunification of the peninsula that has been divided for more than half a century.


Lee has ended years of generous unconditional aid and announced a plan of massive investment across the border if the North gives up nuclear arms -- an offer Pyongyang has rejected.
(Editing by Jon Herskovitz and Jeremy Laurence)