South Korean navy ship sinks, North link played down

reply to post by ZombieSlayer

Nice work from you, keeping us updated from most interesting event in Korea!

Iran and Korea are places where I expect wars to start at the very same moment. Those are deeply related to each others because strategical reasons. What ever will emerge from SK incident, that will have its impact to events in both fronts - ME and Asia.

Today we heard about SCO policy and their support for defending Iran. In case of war in Iran - NK can trust to their ally China in Korea too.

Thanks

Stern may be salvaged by Friday

-The stern of the sunken Navy corvette Cheonan could be pulled out of the water as early as Friday should the weather permit, military officials said yesterday.

-“We can determine when we can salvage the stern after we finish attaching the third chain around the stern. If the weather improves, we could install the chain on April 15. Then, we could salvage it between April 16 and 17,” said Rear Adm. Lee Ki-shik, chief of the information and operations bureau at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a press briefing.

www.koreaherald.co.kr...

Rumors link N. Korea to Cheonan

-North Koreans living near the border with China who heard of the sinking of the South’s Navy corvette Cheonan appear to have presumed that the disaster was caused by their country, according to a group of North Korean defectors here.

-“In the North’s northern regions of Yanggangdo and Hyegangdong, a throng of residents said that the Cheonan sank after (it was hit by) a torpedo, and they presume the sinking was caused by the North,” the group cited the source as saying.

-Citing his sources, Park Sang-hak, head of the Fighters for Free North Korea, also said that since mid-March, all North Korean soldiers appear to have been put on standby and banned from taking leave or leaving their bases. The FFNK is an organization that sends anti-North Korea propaganda pamphlets to the North.

www.koreaherald.co.kr...

South Korea restraint after ship sinking adds to clamor for government action

Some observers say officials have avoided pointing a finger at the North for good reason: To do so would call for a decisive military response that the South is not prepared to carry out.

Analysts say South Korea risks provoking a war that would devastate its economy, scare off foreign investors and place Seoul, the capital, under threat from North Korea's arsenal of short-range missiles.

"The South Korean government knows exactly what it can do about this situation, and that is nothing. It cannot start a war," said Andrei Lankov, a history professor at Kookmin University in Seoul.

www.latimes.com...

Navy hopes to recover stern Thursday

The stern of the sunken Navy corvette Cheonan will be pulled out of the water Thursday should weather permit, military officials said on Wednesday.

The military has decided to partially reveal to the press the breached section of the stern from a distance of 274 meters amid growing calls to disclose the section deemed critical in ascertaining the cause of the disaster.

www.koreaherald.co.kr...

N.Korea stages military exercise, amid tensions

-North Korea has staged a major military exercise attended by leader Kim Jong-Il, the communist state's media said Wednesday, amid rising tensions with South Korea.

-Cross-border tensions are high after an unexplained explosion sank a South Korean warship near the disputed Yellow Sea border on March 26, and after the North scrapped a tourism deal with the South.

www.google.com...

Bodies of missing sailors seen in sunken warship

-Salvage workers saw several bodies inside a sunken naval ship on Thursday when they entered the stern of the 1,200-ton Cheonan corvette to install water pumps after a crane raised it from the sea.

-The Joint Chiefs of Staff said a huge naval recovery-crane started hoisting the stern, where most of the missing sailors are believed trapped. Footage by SBS television showed the stern's upper part appearing on the sea surface, workers taking on the deck and using hoses to pull water out of it and lighten the weight.

-The report said fully retrieving the stern, moving it onto a barge and searching for the missing crew are expected to take 11 hours.

www.koreaherald.co.kr...

I would imagine that they now know what caused the explosion, and are currently figuring out exactly how to tell the world that the Cheonan was torpedoed in an unprovoked attack and what exactly they are going to do about it.

I for one can't wait to see those photos of the damage.

South Korea hoists sunken warship, finds 36 bodies
www.usatoday.com...

South Korea raises sunken naval ship
www.cnn.com...

S. Korea Hoists Sunken Warship, Finds Bodies of Trapped Sailors
www.foxnews.com...

Military reporting system under fire
www.koreaherald.co.kr...

S.Korea recovers sunken vessel (video)
news.yahoo.com...

U.S, South Korea show firepower (video)
A joint demonstration of military might in South Korea brings criticism from North Korea.
news.yahoo.com...

S Korea sends gifts, messages north (video)
South Koreans send balloons with gifts and anti-North Korean messages across the border to mark the 98th birthday of North Korean founder Kim Il-Sung
news.yahoo.com...



[edit on 15-4-2010 by ZombieSlayer]

There's a close-up shot in this story.

news.yahoo.com...

While that "could" be the result of a magazine explosion, it certainly has the features of a torpedo strike, but I'd like to see a close up of the hull plates. I'm basing that assessment on pictures I have seen of target ships that were hit amidships by modern torpedoes, same location for the damage, same clean cut through the superstructure, same separation fore and aft, all with very little collateral damage.

Let's put it this way, it certainly doesn't rule out NK involvement. The structural and chemical tests required for definitive proof shouldn't be too far away.

Question is, if it was an unprovoked attack by NK, what exactly will SK do next?

[edit on 15-4-2010 by Retseh]

Originally posted by muzzleflash


What if Kim is a puppet for the international globalist agenda?

There really is no way to know.


[edit on 26-3-2010 by muzzleflash]

I think there is a possibility of truth in what you say, I've also sometimes felt similarly about certain other key figures of the last century (Stalin? Hitler? and well.. lets not forget good ol' Saddam?).

I believe Shakespeare may have said it best,
"All the world's a stage, and all the men merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts.."

William Shakespeare - All the world's a stage (from As You Like It 2/7)

Just a thought.

S Korea ship was attacked
news.bbc.co.uk...


[edit on 15-4-2010 by all2human]

External blast 'likely cause' of S.Korea warship sinking

-An external blast appears to have caused the sinking of a South Korean warship near the disputed North Korean border three weeks ago, a chief investigator said Friday.

"The possibility of an external explosion is far higher than that of an internal explosion," Yoon Duk-Yong, the co-head of a state investigation team, said at a televised news conference.

He said his assessment was based on an initial on-site probe launched Thursday after the battered stern of the sunken 1,200-tonne corvette the Cheonan was recovered from the Yellow Sea this week.

-Defence minister Kim called for patience but warned that said the military would take "stern" action against whoever is found to be responsible.

www.google.com...

North Korea suspected in blast that sank warship

The likelihood North Korea sank a South Korean naval ship near their disputed border rose when Seoul said on Friday an external explosion probably caused the ship to split in two, killing dozens.

South Korea's defense minister said this month the 1,200-tonne Cheonan may have been hit by a torpedo, immediately putting suspicion on North Korea and stoking concerns that the incident could start a conflict on the long divided peninsula.

news.yahoo.com...

They are still not being definitive about the cause, lots of "probably" and "increased likelihood" types of statements.

They need to wait until they have absolute certainty that an external blast of some type was the cause.

North Korea denies it sank South's navy ship

The North's KCNA news agency accused the conservative government in Seoul of trying to foist blame on its reclusive neighbor to boost sagging support ahead of local elections in the South in June.

"As south Korea can't identify the cause of the accident, they are using the media to attribute it to us ... and trying to fabricate the cause of the accident," the North's KCNA news agency quoted a military official as saying.

"This is all a plot against the DPRK (North Korea) and they are trying create an international consensus against it."

www.reuters.com...

South Korea's Lee vows to root out navy sinking culprit
www.reuters.com...

'Seoul Could Take Sunken Ship to UNSC'
www.koreatimes.co.kr...

Lee vows stern measures against those responsible for warship sinking
english.yonhapnews.co.kr...

Salvage chain breaks off wreckage of S. Korean naval ship
english.yonhapnews.co.kr...

Experts suggest possible attack by N.K. submarine

Experts say that given the shallowness of the waters near the western inter-Korean maritime border, a 325-ton shark-class submarine could have entered South Korean waters undetected.

Rep. Kim Hak-song of the ruling Grand National Party who chairs the National Assembly’s defense committee said on April 5 that he was briefed by the military that movements of two shark-class submarines at the North’s naval base in Bipagot -- some 80 kilometers north of Baengnyeong Island -- were detected before and after the incident occurred on March 26.

www.koreaherald.co.kr...

reply to post by ZombieSlayer


I can understand S.K. not wanting to fess up to the Norths sinking their ship...not wanting to feel pressure to retaliate and engage...as escalating the war would be very messy.

But I don't get the North NOT taking credit for the sinking? Wouldn't it be a badge of honor or something...'we sink ships with impunity, they are afraid of us, won't even admit their own losses' I can imagine being said.
But its not is it? Who's holding Kim's leash, keeping him from bragging?

Six-party talks unlikely if DPRK behind naval disaster

"If North Korea (DPRK) is found to have been involved (in the incident), I believe it'd be difficult to reopen the six-party talks. It would be hard to create an atmosphere to discuss long- term prospects for its denuclearization because the North will have to be held accountable for its behavior,"South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said in a briefing.

news.xinhuanet.com...