perocity
04-26-2010, 06:36 PM
(AFP) – 5 days 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.
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.