On March 26, 2010, a North Korean submarine in the Yellow Sea fired a torpedo at the South Korean naval corvette Cheonan, according to the subsequent findings of an international investigation. The ship sank and 46 sailors died.
"The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine,鈥� a report concluded. 鈥淭here is no other plausible explanation.鈥�
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak initially promised 鈥渞esolute countermeasures鈥� to make North Korea 鈥渁dmit its wrongdoings,鈥� but the North has continued to deny responsibility, even offering to send its own investigators to South Korea to examine the evidence.
The United States subsequently held a series of naval exercises with South Korea, despite protests from China, which did not acknowledge the North鈥檚 responsibility in the attack on the Cheonan. The exercise was aimed at showing muscle to North Korea, the Monitor reported.
