S. Korean Navy Ship Sinking in Disputed Waters

[Keith Millea]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/03/26-7

Published on Friday, March 26, 2010 by The New York Times S. Korean Navy Ship Sinking in Disputed Waters; N. Korean Torpedo?

by Choe Sang-Hun

SEOUL - A South Korean navy patrol ship was sinking near the disputed western sea border with North Korea on Friday after suffering damage to its hull, the South Korean military said.

This undated picture shows South Korea's Cheonan naval ship in South Korea, Friday, March 26, 2010. South Korea's military scrambled Cheonan naval vessels to the western waters near the disputed maritime border with North Korea late Friday after an explosion ripped a hole in the bottom of a military ship, officials and news reports said. (AP Photo/ Yonhap)

The South Korean authorities were investigating the possibility that the 1,200-ton ship had been attacked by a torpedo fired by the North Korean navy, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported, citing an unnamed military source. The agency reported that another South Korean patrol ship had fired at an unidentified vessel shortly after the first ship was damaged.

Those reports could not be independently confirmed.
"Many of the 104 sailors on the ship jumped into the sea, and there is a fear that there may be some human causalities," Yonhap reported.
President Lee Myung-bak ordered an emergency meeting of security-related cabinet ministers at an underground bunker at his office, the Blue House in Seoul, South Korean news reports said.

"All we can say for now is that one of our patrol ships is sinking after it suffered a rupture in its bottom created by an unidentified cause," said a spokesman at the South Korean Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff. He spoke on condition of anonymity until South Korea made a formal announcement.
The ship was sinking in Yellow Sea near Byeongryeong, a South Korean island about eight miles from the north Korean coast and 120 miles from the mainland South.

The waters along the disputed western sea border between the two Koreas make up the most volatile section of the border between North and South Korea, and were the site of bloody naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.

North Korea rejects a sea border unilaterally drawn by the United Nations at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War and defended by the South Koreans. It has repeatedly warned of naval clashes there.

In November, naval patrol boats from the North and South exchanged fire after a North Korean boat crossed that sea border, called the northern-limit line. The North Korean patrol boat was damaged in the skirmish and retreated after the skirmish.

Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

[Ed Jewett]

I also posted some of the same breaking news info under the thread "Jeju Island" ... [mods may combine and re-title as far as I am concerned] ... and I don't know if this is related, but...:

Mar 26, 3:58 AM (ET)

By KWANG-TAE KIM (AP) In this photo taken on Jan. 12, 2010, American Aijalon Mahli Gomes, right, whose identification was...
Full Imagep {margin:12px 0px 0px 0px;} SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea's military threatened South Korea and the United States on Friday with "unprecedented nuclear strikes" as it expressed anger over a report the two countries plan to prepare for possible instability in the totalitarian country, a scenario it dismissed as a "pipe dream."
The North routinely issues such warnings. Diplomats in South Korea and the U.S. have repeatedly called on Pyongyang to return to international negotiations aimed at ending its nuclear programs.
"Those who seek to bring down the system in the (North), whether they play a main role or a passive role, will fall victim to the unprecedented nuclear strikes of the invincible army," North Korea's military said in comments carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
The North, believed have enough weaponized plutonium for at least half a dozen atomic bombs, conducted its second atomic test last year, drawing tighter U.N. sanctions.
Experts from South Korea, the U.S. and China will meet in China next month to share information on North Korea, assess possible contingencies in the country, and consider ways to cooperate in case of an emergency situation, South Korea's Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported earlier this month, citing unidentified sources in Seoul and Beijing. The experts will also hold follow-up meetings in Seoul in June and in Honolulu in July, it said.
The North Korean statement Friday specifically referred to the March 19 newspaper report.
A spokeswoman said the South Korean Defense Ministry had no information.
Gen. Walter Sharp, the top U.S. commander in South Korea, says the possibility of turmoil in the North is of real concern, citing the country's economic weakness, malnourishment in both the military and general population, and its nuclear weapons.
"The possibility of a sudden leadership change in the North could be destabilizing and unpredictable," he said in testimony before the House Appropriations Committee hearing earlier this week.
South Korean media have reported that Seoul has drawn up a military operations plan with the United States to cope with possible emergencies in the North. The North says the U.S. is plotting to topple its regime, a claim Washington has consistently denied.
Last month, the North also threatened a "powerful - even nuclear - attack," if the U.S. and South Korea went ahead with annual military drills. There was no military provocation from North Korea during the exercises.
China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. have been trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons in six party talks. The North quit the negotiations last year.
The fate of the North's nuclear weapons has taken on added urgency since late 2008 as concerns over the health of leader Kim Jong Il have intensified.
Kim, who suffered an apparent stroke in 2008, may die within three years, South Korean media have reported. His death is thought to have the potential to trigger instability and a power struggle in the North.



http://apnews.excite.com/article/2010032...7EBG0.html

[Susan Grant]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62P30E20100327

[Ed Jewett]

Residue of German Torpedo Found In Cheonan Forensic Investigation

11 05 2010
[South Korea has nine German submarines; perhaps the S. Koreans sunk their own vessel. It is possible that it was fired from a German submarine. The three primary buyers of German arms are: Turkey, Greece and South Africa.Of this group, it is thought that only Turkey is active in the S. Asian power play. On the other hand, Israel owns five German submarines. Once again, mysterious submarines, appearing to be Israeli, are involved in sabotaging international relations. (SEE: Cutting Cables, Lighting Fuses) Contrary to conspiratorial and anti-Semitic voices, Israel may influence American foreign policy to a great degree, but in the long run, America pulls Israel's military strings. If an Israeli sub sank a S. Korean warship, it could only be described as an American false flag event.]
The last submarine Reich?

[URL="http://www.centrasia.ru/news.php?st=1273546560"]The experts found that the South Korean corvette Cheonan, drowned from Germany torpedo
[/URL]

Named the cause of death corvette South Korea

caused the flooding of South Korean corvette “Cheonan” international commission called the explosion of a torpedo that struck the submerged part of the ship. Found that this torpedo weapons were manufactured in Germany. Recall, the ship crashed in late March near the maritime boundary between the two Koreas. North Korea denied speculation that a South Korean ship was subjected to a torpedo attack.
“After the rise of the ship they found in his compartment traces of explosives, which are equipped with torpedoes. From its defeat sank, Cheonan, as a result killed 46 sailors,” – said on May 7 agency Yonhap on the conclusions reached by the experts of Korea and several foreign countries, to investigate the cause of this tragic incident.
According to the Commission, the chemical analysis of explosives indicates that the torpedo weapon was “Made in Germany”. Recall the culprit of this incident, which Seoul informally called neighboring North Korea. However, the Naval Forces of this country are outdated weapons systems of the Soviet and Chinese manufacture, and traces of their use against the South Korean navy ship was found.
Pyongyang is adamant about his innocence in the death of “Cheonan. However, as noted by the South Korean media, the incident with the corvette impede the normalization of relations between the two Korean states and may become an obstacle to the resumption of six-party talks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Recall the collapse of the South Korean navy corvette “Cheonan, occurred March 26 in the Yellow Sea. The causes of the shipwreck were not called, but the Western media reported that an explosion occurred aboard the ship, and at the bottom of the hole formed. Then, were rescued about 60 sailors of the ship, more than 40 died. The news of the wreck caused panic among the residents of South Korea, arguing that North Korea has threatened on the eve of the U.S. and its allies by a series of large-scale attacks, began to act.
Kommersant-Online, 07.05.2010
Source - Businessman
Permanent Address Article - http://www.centrasia.ru/newsA.php?st=1273546560


########

Residue of German Torpedo Found In Cheonan Forensic Investigation–Part II.

11 05 2010 [SEE:Residue of German Torpedo Found In Cheonan Forensic Investigation]
Torpedo explosive detected in sunken ship: official


SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) — An explosive substance, traces of which were found in the wreckage of a sunken South Korean naval ship, has been identified as a powerful bomb ingredient used in making torpedoes, a government official said Friday.
The latest finding is expected to further back suspicions that a torpedo attack caused the explosion of the 1,200-ton patrol ship Cheonan near the tense Yellow Sea border with North Korea on March 26. The Cheonan broke in two and sank, killing 46 sailors.
Data picture “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 said on condition of anonymity. “This explosive is used in torpedoes, not sea mines.”
RDX, which stands for research department explosive, is a white crystalline solid and is considered the most powerful high explosive and a main ingredient in plastic explosives.
Four metal fragments have also been found in the wreckage, which was salvaged last month, and an analysis has showed that they were an alloy of aluminum and magnesium used in torpedo casings, the official said.
Investigators are also looking into the possibility that a German-made torpedo might have been used, potentially a move by North Korea to disguise the attack, as South Korea uses German torpedoes.
Foreign specialists from the United States, Sweden, Australia and Britain have joined South Korea’s investigation into the sinking, as Seoul has sought to ensure the probe is transparent and objective.
After the investigation is complete, South Korea could invite experts from China and Russia, countries close to North Korea, to provide them with a first-hand look at the ship’s wreckage, Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae said.
Won said the outcome is expected to come before the end of this month.
Earlier this week, President Lee Myung-bak told a conference of top military generals that the sinking was not a “simple accident,” while Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said a “surprise attack” sank the vessel, although neither directly mentioned the communist neighbor.
North Korea has denied any responsibility.
Suspicions of North Korea’s involvement have been strong, as the site of the sinking lies near where the navies of the two Koreas fought deadly skirmishes in 1999, 2002 and most recently in November last year.
On Friday, South Korean and U.S. officials were to hold additional talks on the sinking.
The meeting between Kim Hong-kyun, director of the foreign ministry’s bureau of the peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, and Joseph Donovan, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, comes one day after the countries held their Security Policy Initiative, a regular dialogue aimed at coordinating the allies’ security policies.
The two sides agreed at Thursday’s meeting to work out unspecified “necessary security measures” in accordance with the outcome of the investigation.
South Korea’s Navy, meanwhile, is considering responding more aggressively to North Korean violations of the western maritime border, spending less time on radio warnings before moving on to fire warning shots and then aimed shots, a military source said.
“Up until now, we have taken some time in giving radio warnings when North Korean ships have violated” the sea border, the source said on condition of anonymity. “After the Cheonan incident, we’re considering operating the rules of engagement in a speedier way.”
jschang@yna.co.kr

[Jan Klimkowski]

A German torpedo, eh?

Smells like a false flag, Gleiwitz-style, manufactured incident that - for unknown reasons - was not turned into a casus belli against North Korea.

If war had been declared on North Korea, I suspect the national origin of the torpedo would still be classified.

[David Guyatt]

I'm inclined to agree.

In Operation Black Dog the US used a dumb bomb - devoid of ay markings - containing a potent mixture of chemical and biological elements on one of Saddam's facilities in Gulf war 1.

However, the fuse to ignite the munition could be traced and was of German manufacture.

[Magda Hassan]

North Korea role in warship sinking 'obvious'



The Cheonan sinking has increased tensions between the two Koreas South Korea's foreign minister says it is "obvious" that North Korea sank a South Korean naval ship in March.
Yu Myung-hwan said there was enough evidence to take the issue to the United Nations.
The Cheonan warship went down on 26 March near the disputed inter-Korean maritime border, with the loss of 46 sailors.
Mr Yu's remarks came as a multinational team prepares to announce the results of its investigation into the incident.
It is the clearest indication to date from South Korea that it blames Pyongyang for the sinking.
North Korea has denied responsibility for the incident, which has increased tensions between the two nations.
'Torpedo attack' The findings of an investigation led by international experts are to be released Thursday, with South Korea expected to blame the North.
An anonymous US official in Washington told the Associated Press that the investigating team would lay out evidence that the sinking of the Cheonan was the result of a North Korean torpedo attack.
Part of a torpedo propeller is said to have been discovered on the seabed and traces of explosive found on the wreck are said to match that used in a North Korean torpedo recovered a few years ago.
While the United States appears to be preparing to support the conclusions, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton due to visit Seoul next week, China is taking a more cautious line, reports the BBC's John Sudworth from Seoul.
Its ambassador to South Korea has been quoted as saying that he does not believe that clear evidence has been discovered that proves North Korea's involvement.
Some experts have suggested that the ship could have been sunk as the result of an accidental collision with an unexploded sea mine left over from the Korean war.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pa...124939.stm

[Magda Hassan]

A North Korean submarine's torpedo sank a South Korean navy ship on 26 March causing the deaths of 46 sailors, an international report has found.
Investigators said they had discovered part of the torpedo on the sea floor and it carried lettering that matched a North Korean design.
Pyongyang rejected the claim as a "fabrication" and threatened war if sanctions were imposed, say reports.
China has urged both countries to show restraint.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak pledged to take "stern action" against the North.
The White House described the sinking of the ship as an "act of aggression" by North Korea that challenged peace.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the report was "deeply troubling".
Continue reading the main story

:flute: The attack demonstrates a total indifference to human life and a blatant disregard of international obligations

William Hague, UK Foreign Secretary

Pyongyang said it would send its own inspection team to the South to "verify material evidence" behind the accusation.
A North Korean defence spokesman said the country would "respond to reckless countermeasure with an all-out war of justice", the state KCNA news agency reported.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said Beijing had "noted" the report and would make its own assessment, but called on both sides to exercise restraint.
The Cheonan went down near the disputed inter-Korean maritime border, raising tension between the two nations, which technically remain at war.
The shattered wreck of the 1,200-tonne gunboat was later winched to the surface, in two pieces, for examination.
'Perfect match' The investigation was led by experts from the US, Australia, Britain and Sweden. The team examined eyewitness accounts, damage to the vessel, evidence collected from the seabed and the injuries sustained by survivors and those who died.
Lettering on the torpedo that is said to prove its North Korean origin It said: "The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine.
"There is no other plausible explanation."
Monitoring of seismic activity in the region, damage to the ship and the "fractures and lacerations" sustained by the dead crew were all consistent with "damage resulting from a shockwave and bubble effect" caused by an explosion directly beneath the vessel, it said.
The report said the torpedo parts found "perfectly match" a torpedo type that the North manufactures.
Lettering found on one section matched that on a North Korean torpedo found by the South seven years ago.
There had earlier been a number of explanations suggested for the sinking, including an accidental collision with an unexploded sea mine left over from the Korean War.
Mr Lee's presidential office said he had told Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd: "We will be taking firm, responsive measures against the North - and through international co-operation, we have to make the North admit its wrongdoing and come back as a responsible member of the international community."
Continue reading the main story Adam Brookes BBC News, Washington
Absent from the White House statement is any call for retribution or military response. The US does not want fighting to break out on the Korean peninsula.
The White House, said one expert, will be looking for a response that deters, but does not provoke North Korea.
Sources here say the Obama administration is considering putting North Korea back on the list of countries which sponsor terrorism. That could mean sanctions. North Korea was removed from the list in 2008.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to travel to Japan, South Korea and China in the coming days. Managing this smouldering crisis between the two Koreas will no doubt occupy much of her time.

However, the BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul says agreeing an international response will be difficult as the diplomatic options will be limited.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said on Thursday the sinking of the vessel was "unfortunate" but he would not comment on the international report.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said US President Barack Obama had expressed his "deep sympathy" to Mr Lee and the Korean people and that the US "strongly condemned" the action.
"This act of aggression is one more instance of North Korea's unacceptable behaviour and defiance of international law," said Mr Gibbs, adding that it "only deepens North Korea's isolation".
He called the alleged attack "a challenge to international peace and security" and a violation of the armistice agreement which ended the Korean war.
But he said it had reinforced the resolve of North Korea's neighbours "to intensify their co-operation to safeguard peace and stability in the region against all provocations".
Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said in a statement that North Korea's action was "unforgivable".
The country's chief cabinet secretary, Hirofumi Hirano, said the situation was "extremely regrettable" and would "evidently" be brought before the UN.
The British embassy in Seoul quoted Foreign Secretary William Hague as saying: "[North Korea's] actions will deepen the international community's mistrust. The attack demonstrates a total indifference to human life and a blatant disregard of international obligations."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pa...129703.stm

[Jan Klimkowski]

New Brit Foreign Secretary, William Hague, was summonsed to Washington to genuflect before Hillary immediately after the UK coalition govt was announced.

I suspect he was forcefed the official script for this Korean false flag casus belli.

I can only laugh contemptuously at the ruling elites. Is the massacre of the ordinary people of an incredibly poor, dinosaur, state really the best They can come up with to distract us from the collapse of their Ponzi schemes and arbitraged labour scams?

:bird:

[Jan Klimkowski]

An MSM TV "defence correspondent" may have just let the cat out of the bag, as follows:

Statement 1) "Dealing" with Iran is the number one priority;

Statement 2) China needs to brought "onside" for military action against Iran to take place;

Statement 3) If China "plays ball" on Iran, then its North Korean ally need not necessarily face military "retaliation" from the West.

So, if this is correct, the North Korean false flag incident is leverage to persuade China to allow a military attack on Iran in exchange for no military action against North Korea.