North Korea rebuffs South Korea's evidence on Cheonan attack
South Korean defense officials presented evidence Thursday that a North Korean submarine torpedoed the Cheonan, a South Korean Navy ship, in March, killing 46 sailors.
Yoon Duk-yong, right, co-head of the team investigating the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan, stands next to torpedo parts salvaged from the Yellow Sea during a press conference at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, Thursday.
Jung Yeon-je/AP
Seoul, South Korea
South Korea鈥檚 Defense Ministry Thursday formally charged North Korea with the attack on a South Korean Navy ship that killed 46 sailors 鈥� in the face of angry denials from North Korea, including a threat of 鈥渁ll-out war鈥� if the South responded militarily.
North Korea鈥檚 National Defense Commission, chaired by the country鈥檚 leader Kim Jong-il, issued its statement in the midst of a briefing by South Korean defense officials on the torpedo they say split and sank the Cheonan.
Pyongyang offered to send its own investigators to South Korea to examine the evidence as weighed by a team of investigators from South Korea, United States, Britain, Australia, and Sweden. The offer was viewed as rhetorical, though, since North and South Korea have stopped virtually all talks.
International attention
While the leaders of the defense team explained in detail how the torpedo sank the corvette on March 26, South Korea鈥檚 President Lee Myung-bak promised 鈥渞esolute countermeasures鈥� to make North Korea 鈥渁dmit its wrongdoings.鈥� He added, however, that he hoped to achieve that goal 鈥渢hrough strong international cooperation.鈥�
That qualifier ruled out the threat of military retaliation against the base from which investigators say North Korea staged its attack, dispatching small submarines and a 鈥渕other ship鈥� into disputed waters in the Yellow Sea (also called the West Sea).
The South鈥檚 response 鈥渨ill be very muted,鈥� predicts Tim Peters, a longtime resident of Seoul who works on North Korean human rights issues. President Lee, a former business leader with no military background, will probably make 鈥渆very attempt to dilute the response through the international community so investor confidence will not be troubled,鈥� he says.
Though foreign diplomats and military officers packed the briefing room at the Defense Ministry, none came from the Chinese Embassy. China, North Korea鈥檚 closest ally, may oppose or seek to water down any attempts by South Korea and the US to pass tougher sanctions against the North in the United Nations Security Council.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing hinted at China鈥檚 lukewarm position when he urged all sides to 鈥渞emain calm鈥� and not risk an escalation of tensions. A Chinese official called the episode 鈥渦nfortunate.鈥�
Further threats
The South Korean military co-leader of the investigation acknowledged the remaining threat posed by North Korea鈥檚 70 submarines, many of them based in ports on the Yellow Sea above the Northern Limit Line, below which the South bars North Korean ships. North Korea has long disputed the line, and it was in those disputed waters, off an island held by the South since the Korean War, that the ship was blown up.
鈥淒efensive measures are very difficult and limited,鈥� Lt. Gen. Park Jung-e said at the briefing. 鈥淭he most effective way to destroy the submarine is to destroy it when it is identified at the base. Once the submarine leaves the base, it is very difficult to detect.鈥�
Park said the submarine that fired the torpedo at the Cheonan was 鈥渃onfirmed鈥� to have 鈥渓eft the base,鈥� but 鈥渨e were not able to expect that a submarine, once seaborne, was going to infiltrate our waters.鈥�
To fend off future attacks, he said, 鈥渙ur plan is to reinforce submarine measures by establishing a submarine detection system in areas that are vulnerable.鈥�
鈥楴o other plausible explanation鈥�
He and the co-leader of the investigation, Yoon Duck-yong, a retired professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, offered a raft of detail on the attack.
The submarine that launched the torpedo belonged to the Yeono class, 130 tons, a tiny submersible that is basically 鈥渁n underwater weapon system,鈥� said the report. North Korea has 10 of these 鈥渕idget submarines鈥� that are capable of entering South Korea鈥檚 coastal waters undetected, in addition to 20 1,800-ton Romeo class submarines and 40 300-ton Sango submarines.
A South Korean dredging vessel pulled up the pieces of the torpedo just five days ago, after a meticulous search over a 500-square-yard area. That discovery, defense officials say, sealed their case against North Korea.
The investigation report described how 鈥渁 strong underwater explosion generated by the detonation鈥� of the torpedo below the gas turbine room of the vessel sent off a 鈥渁 shock wave and bubble effect.鈥� All of the sailors who died were killed by the shockwave, it said, while 58 sailors on the larger portion of the vessel were able to escape.
鈥淭he evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine,鈥� the report concluded. 鈥淭here is no other plausible explanation.鈥�
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