South Korean President Lee Myung-bak ordered an investigation yesterday into how a navy ship sank near the disputed North Korea border, but officials said it was unlikely to have been the result of an attack by Pyongyang.
Initial speculation that North Korea might have sunk the ship spooked Wall Street, where share prices dipped overnight partly on geopolitical concerns, and the won dropped against the dollar.
“Every possibility should be considered in investigating the causes of the ship sinking and the investigation must be fast and thorough,” Lee’s office quoted him as telling an emergency government meeting early yesterday.
A reporter on Baengnyeongdo island, near where the ship sank, said about 10 navy and coastguard vessels, along with divers, were searching the area and the wreckage.
MBC television quoted defense ministry sources as saying it was unlikely the prickly North was involved, although they were checking for a possible link. The ministry was also investigating whether it was the result of an internal explosion.
Presidential Blue House spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye also said there had been no unusual movements by North Korea, which has a million-strong military, much of it near the heavily armed border that has divided the Korean peninsula for more than 50 years.
Local media quoted a presidential official as saying satellite pictures and other information showed no sign of the North Korean military in the area at the time of the sinking.
The defense ministry said 58 of the 104 on board had been rescued and Yonhap quoted navy officials as saying several had died. It was later quoted as saying 46 crew were still missing.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
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