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.”
If North Korea is ultimately found culpable, it will amount to one of the most serious military provocations since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, leaving the peninsula technically in a state of war. But what options South Korea may have to retaliate are difficult issues for the South.
The sensitivity of the matter was on full display in the testimony of the defense minister, Kim Tae-young. No sooner had he raised the possibility of a torpedo attack than he was handed a hurriedly dictated note from the president’s office. It warned the defense chief “not to lean too much toward the torpedo attack” and to stick to the official stance: keeping all possibilities open until the ship was salvaged and examined for the cause of its sinking.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/world/asia/09korea.html?partner=rss&emc=rss