PDA

View Full Version : North Korea denies role in South Korean naval disaster



nastyleg
04-18-2010, 03:21 AM
North Korea denies role in South Korean naval disaster
By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times
Stars and Stripes online edition, Sunday, April 18, 2010

SEOUL, South Korea — After weeks of silence, North Korea on Saturday denied any involvement in the mysterious sinking of a South Korean naval patrol boat.

The North's state-run media criticized suggestions made by officials in Seoul that a North Korean torpedo struck the 1,200-ton Cheonan on March 26 as it cruised the tense sea border between North and South.

So far, South Korea hasn't directly pointed the finger at the North, but an investigator said Friday that an external explosion was the most likely cause of the sinking, which killed at least 38 crewmen.

In its usual bombastic tone, North Korea's Central News Agency quoted a military official as saying that the South is using the sinking as a propaganda stunt.

"Failing to probe the cause of the sinking of the ship, the puppet military warmongers, right-wing conservative politicians and the group of other traitors in South Korea are now foolishly seeking to link the accident with the North at any cost," the agency said.

Fifty-eight of the ship's crew were rescued as the ship went down. Last week, salvage workers pulled large parts of the ship to the surface, discovering 36 bodies inside. Two other bodies had been recovered earlier, leaving eight crew members still missing and believed dead.

On Saturday, North Korea expressed sympathy for the lost crewmen, but blasted the South's military.

"Though the sunken large ship belongs to the South side, we have so far regarded the accident as a regretful accident that should not happen in the light of the fact that many missing persons and most of rescued members of the crew are fellow countrymen forced to live a tiresome life in the puppet army," the release said.

Chief South Korean investigator Yoon Duk-yong has ruled out any possibility that the ship struck a rock, instead saying that there was a "high possibility of an external explosion."

South Korean officials have been criticized here for not releasing more information on the investigation, causing many to suspect a government cover-up.

In a televised public statement, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young apologized that the "poor handling of some measures" had "caused distrust and suspicion among the public."

"The government and the military view this incident as a grave situation of national security, while we are doing our best to deal with the situation."

Ju-min Park of the Los Angeles Times' Seoul Bureau contributed to this report.




http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=69438

Pittsburgh
04-22-2010, 01:13 AM
So far, South Korea hasn't directly pointed the finger at the North

They have now...


South Korea suspects a North Korean torpedo caused the mysterious sinking of one of its navy ships last month, Reuters reported, citing South Korea's Yonhap News.

The South Korean military points to intelligence gathered in a joint investigation with the United States, marking the strongest accusations yet that North Korea was behind the March 26 incident.

Fifty-eight of the ship's crew were rescued while the ship was sinking and 38 bodies have been found, most of them last week, when the stern was raised from the water. Eight crew members are still unaccounted for.

Until now, South Korean officials had not openly blamed the North for one of its worst naval disasters, though investigators had said the explosion was most likely external.

Last week, North Korea accused South Korea of spreading false rumors about the incident. North Korean officials have denied involvement in the blast that broke the 1,200-ton Cheonan into two pieces during a routine patrol near the countries' sea border.

North Korea has suggested that the South seeks to blame North Korea in order to strengthen the ruling party's position in upcoming local elections and shore up international sanctions against the North. The U.N. Security Council slapped on tough new sanctions on North Korea following its second nuclear test last year.

The divided peninsula remains technically at war, since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/04/21/south-korea-suspects-north-korean-torpedo-ship-sinking/

ianstone
04-22-2010, 12:18 PM
Yeah right, and i'm the tooth fairy.