Probe into stricken S.Korean warship
(AFP) – 5 hours ago
SEOUL — The stern of a South Korean warship that sank near the North Korean border leading to heightened North-South tensions was brought to a naval base south of Seoul on Sunday for further investigations.
On Saturday, North Korea denied involvement in the March 26 sinking of the Cheonan, a 1,200-tonne corvette, with its official news agency issuing a vitriolic statement against the South.
Forty-six sailors lost their lives in the sinking and officials in the South said Friday an external blast had been the cause.
Seoul has launched an international investigation involving eight Americans, three Australians and four Swedes to ensure the eventual findings cannot be disputed.
Navy officials said investigators were at the naval base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Seoul, looking into the stern which had been cleared of ammunition and was illuminated inside.
They were also scrutinising some 170 pieces of the debris for clues to the cause of the disaster.
While South Korea has not blamed the North for the sinking, Seoul's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan told KBS television on Sunday the UN Security Council could handle the case if Pyongyang is found to be involved.
Seoul's Defence Minister Kim Tae-Young has raised the possibility that a mine or torpedo may have hit the Cheonan, warning of "stern" actions against whoever is found to be responsible.
Chief investigator Yoon Duk-Yong said on Friday the steel plate of the warship's port side was curved inward, adding the warship seemed to have received a powerful impact on the port side.
He ruled out an onboard blast or a shipwreck.
Analysts said the incident would harm diplomatic efforts aimed at persuading North Korea back to six-party nuclear disarmament talks that the communist state quit a year ago.
The Yellow Sea border was the scene of deadly naval clashes between the North and South in 1999 and 2002 and of a firefight last November that left a North Korean patrol boat in flames.
On Saturday, the North's KCNA news agency said: "The war maniacs of the South's puppet military and right-wing conservative politicians are now making a foolish attempt to link the tragedy to us after having failed to find out the cause of the sinking.
"The reason that the South's puppets are claiming the North's involvement is also linked to their foolish efforts to put pressure on us, even by stirring up international opinion in favour of sanctions," KCNA said.
