A torpedo attack is among the “most likely” causes of the sinking of a South Korean warship near the disputed border with North Korea, South Korea’s defense minister said yesterday amid rising tensions with Pyongyang.
The 12,000-tonne corvette Cheonan sank after being split in half in a mysterious blast in the Yellow Sea on March 26, leaving 40 sailors confirmed dead and six still unaccounted for.
“A bubble jet caused by a heavy torpedo [attack] is thought to be one of the most likely things to be blamed, but various other possibilities are also under review,” South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said yesterday.
Shortly after the vessel sank, Kim said a mine or a torpedo could have been to blame, but Seoul subsequently backpedaled and has since been careful to avoid pointing a finger at Pyongyang.
Several unidentified sources have been quoted in recent days as saying an underwater explosion was the cause of the sinking, but Kim is the first minister to make the link explicitly since a probe into the sinking began.
Initial inspections of the stern, salvaged from the seabed on April 15, and the bow, which was raised on Saturday, indicate it was hit by the force of a blast, officials said.
Live local television footage of Saturday’s salvage of the bow showed a hatch had come off its hinges and a chimney was missing.
Yoon Duk-yong, co-chairman of a joint international investigation team including US and Australian experts, issued an interim report yesterday that no soot, melting or any explosion holes were found on the ship.
“In conclusion, after the initial visual inspection of the severed surface and the inside/outside of the hull, we assume the cause is underwater explosion,” Yoon said in the report.
“And looking at the form of the deformation, it is highly likely that a non-contact explosion was the cause rather than a contact explosion,” Yoon said, without specifying what type of explosive had been detonated.
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-chan yesterday declared a five-day “national mourning period” for the 46 sailors ending on Thursday, with public shrines set up in Seoul and other cities nationwide for citizens to pay tribute.
Pyongyang has accused South Korean “war maniacs” of seeking to shift the blame for the tragedy to the North.
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