Report: South Korean navy ship sinks

bruno

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(CNN) -- A South Korean navy ship sank in the Yellow Sea near North Korea early Saturday, and the navy shot at an unidentified ship toward the north, according to reports quoting South Korean government officials.

Yonhap News Agency quoted navy officials saying Friday that a ship carrying 104 crew members sank off the Seoul-controlled island of Baengnyeong in a flashpoint maritime border area between the Koreas.

The 1,500-ton corvette Cheonan went down at 9:45 p.m. Friday near the island, ...
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/26/south.korea.ship.sinking/index.html

And from the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8589507.stm
A South Korean navy ship with about 100 personnel on board has sunk off the west coast near North Korea.
The exact cause of the sinking was unclear, but an explosion was reported in the rear of the ship.
There was speculation it could have been from a torpedo from the North.
 
Ten will get you 20, that we will have ships and planes in the area by tomorrow afternoon.

This is not pretty to say the least. I think from a military standpoint if NKorea did attack with a torpedo it was a smart time. We have 2 military actions occurring currently and caught up in our own economy to make us the weakest we would ever be in the foreseeable future. Not weak enough to not do damage to them, but enough to make them think we will turn a blinds eye.

Additionally, maybe they saw that Israel is not on the same page with this administration and feel that we have become hollow in our words and actions. Maybe they see Skorea as Israel and them as Palestine.

Just curious how they have torpedos, but no electricity!
 
Sounds like an accidental explosion, It's not even on the front page of many news web sites.

Barely a mention on Fox News, CNN, or MSNBC - in fact, it's buried under the Gilbert Arenas gun charges and the gay teen prom stories.

I would think if we were on the precipice of a major conflict that they'd cover it a little closer.
 
It is on Drudge. I believe the reason they have jumped to the conclusion of a torpedo was due to the fact that it was inward and not outward regarding the explosion.

However, I agree, it would be best to not jump to any conclusions.

My only thought really is with the 50 sailors that died and their families.
 
I agree - the event was rather poorly covered by international and American newspapers. However, "skirmishes" and/or attacks such as this one have occured several times in this past decade with no real changes to foreign policy. This event is unique in that it resulted in another sinking of a South Korean naval boat and that the casualty rates were very high. My thoughts go out to the victims families' and I'm angry with the ROK Navy's handling of the whole thing - very little was done to save the ship (it split in half as it sunk - the Navy lost the whereabouts of both halves) and the sailors.

Although its true that what happened can only be verified by inspecting the damage inflicted on the ship, a North Korean attack can't be excluded entirely. Yesterday, North Korean fighters were detected around the vicinity of the attack, and some are predicting that they were sent to inspect/verify the results of their attack (if they indeed do so). But sending jets to the area itself is suspicious.

There are many reports and predictions that North Korea may collapse within the next few decades, if not sooner. Kim Jong Il is ailing, the number of defectors are increasing, and Kim's reach into peoples' lives are now being greatly limited through bribes (widespread corruption is a historical indicator of a failing state). We could interpret this attack as one an act during its death-throes (it seems far-fetched but its possible - and optimistic!)
 
US Rules Out North Korea's Involvement In South Korean Navy Ship's Sinking
4/6/2010 4:36 AM ET

(RTTNews) - There is no apparent evidence to suspect North Korea's involvement in the sinking of a South Korean warship last month near the maritime border between the two nations, the chief of U.S. forces in Korea, said Tuesday.

General Walter Sharp said a joint U.S.-South Korean team would be constituted to try and find out what caused the sinking of the 1,200-ton 'Cheonan' in the Yellow Sea on March 26.
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/world/asia/09korea.html?hp

Signs Pointing to North Korean Role in Sinking
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: April 8, 2010

SEOUL, South Korea — It could take weeks for the engineers to salvage the South Korean warship Cheonan, which sank in waters disputed by North Korea after a mysterious explosion, and provide a definitive explanation of what caused the disaster. But the signs are pointing more and more to the North Koreans, which is raising uncomfortable questions for the South Korean government of President Lee Myung-bak.

On Thursday, surviving crew members went public with their account, saying they are convinced the explosion came from outside the ship. That follows the defense minister’s remark last week before Parliament that the military had not ruled out the possibility that the ship was hit by a Korean mine or torpedo, and added: “A more likely possibility is a torpedo attack.”

Thats strange that the US commander there would make such a statement :confused: Most things I've been reading have been leaning towards the possibility of a North Korean attack
 
An act of war that cannot go unpunished.

If South Korea retaliates with a military strike, Pyongyang could level Seoul (a city of 30 million).

If South Korea does nothing but rattle a sabre, North Korea will be emboldened to strike again.

Dodgy situation.
 
How to deal with the state that is arguably the world's most irrational actor but which possesses a really formidable military capability and which essentially has already completely cut itself off economically from virtually the entire world? They do not respond to "carrots" (The Carter/Clinton approach of bribing them with "peaceful" nuclear power generation capability certainly did nothing other than buy them time) but there are not many sticks to beat them with short of a total nuclear strike. Anything less than that would put Seoul at serious risk but clearly that is just not in the cards.
 
Makes you wonder what Kim was talking about with the Chinese last week when he was visiting...
 
Maybe we will "strongly condemn" them. There isn't much we can do without China on board. What could we do if it was one of our ships? Ask the UN to propose sanctions? I don't see another Inchon in the future.
 
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Maybe we will "strongly condemn" them. There isn't much we can do without China on board. What could we do if it was one of our ships? Ask the UN to propose sanctions? I don't see another Inchon in the future.

Secretary of State has already done the very meaningless "condemnation" of NK :\

Past experience already proves that South Korea and the UN are powerless to do anything. There have been numerous incidents like this already and no one has truly been able to retaliate or "punish" the North. As long as Kim Jong Il is suspected of having nuclear weapons nothing can be done without fear of Seoul being wiped out
 
iran-nk-obama-cartoon.jpg
 
Maybe we will "strongly condemn" them.

Kim Jong Il: Hans Brix? Oh no! Oh, herro. Great to see you again, Hans!
Hans Blix: Mr. Il, I was supposed to be allowed to inspect your palace today, but your guards won't let me enter certain areas.
Kim Jong Il: Hans, Hans, Hans! We've been frew this a dozen times. I don't have any weapons of mass destwuction, OK Hans?
Hans Blix: Then let me look around, so I can ease the UN's collective mind. I'm sorry, but the UN must be firm with you. Let me in, or else.
Kim Jong Il: Or else what?
Hans Blix: Or else we will be very angry with you... and we will write you a letter, telling you how angry we are.


:cool:
 
Kim Jong Il: Hans Brix? Oh no! Oh, herro. Great to see you again, Hans!
Hans Blix: Mr. Il, I was supposed to be allowed to inspect your palace today, but your guards won't let me enter certain areas.
Kim Jong Il: Hans, Hans, Hans! We've been frew this a dozen times. I don't have any weapons of mass destwuction, OK Hans?
Hans Blix: Then let me look around, so I can ease the UN's collective mind. I'm sorry, but the UN must be firm with you. Let me in, or else.
Kim Jong Il: Or else what?
Hans Blix: Or else we will be very angry with you... and we will write you a letter, telling you how angry we are.


:cool:

:yllol::yllol::yllol::yllol:
 
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