Korean Warship Pak Jiao & SANK!

[makapaaa]

South Korea Naval Vessel Sunk; Cause Remains Unclear (Update2)


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By Sangim Han and Bomi Lim


March 27 (Bloomberg) -- A South Korean naval vessel sank off Baengnyeong island in the Yellow Sea, near the border with North Korea, an official in the office of President Lee Myung Bak said. The cause was unclear, he said.
About 50 crew members were still being searched for, with 58 rescued, said the official, who declined to be identified in accord with government policy. President Lee convened a meeting of security officials to discuss the incident, said the official, giving no further details.
The ship, which was on patrol, started sinking about 9 p.m. Friday night because of a hole in its stern, the cause of which was unclear, the official said.
A Defense Ministry spokesman in Seoul also said the cause of the hole wasn’t clear.
South Korea’s navy fired a warning shot toward the north at objects that appeared on radar, the presidential official said. The objects may have been a group of birds, the official said, in response to earlier reports that the navy had fired at an unidentified ship.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mark Wright said, “We have not been asked for any assistance at this time by the Republic of Korea.” Wright declined to comment when asked if the alert status of the 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea had been elevated.
Another Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman said “we are aware of the reports and monitoring the situation.”
U.S. Stocks
News of the sinking helped push up the price of U.S. two- year Treasuries and of gold as investors sought assets perceived to be safer. Stocks in New York erased an early advance, though the S&P 500 Index then began to climb again.
“We had an oversold condition and when the Korea news hit the desks, gold took off,” said Frank McGhee, the head dealer at Integrated Brokerage Services LLC in Chicago.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased 0.1 percent to 1,167.21 at 2:33 p.m. in New York. The gauge had rallied as much as 0.7 percent in morning trading before turning lower when word of the South Korean ship’s sinking began to spread.
South Korea and North Korea remain technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a cease-fire, which was never replaced by a peace treaty. North Korea wants talks on signing a treaty to begin before it returns to six-nation discussions on ending its nuclear weapons program.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sangim Han in Seoul at [email protected]
Last Updated: March 26, 2010 14:53 EDT

 

[makapaaa]

South Korean navy ship sinks, North link played down

Cho Mee-young
SEOUL
Fri Mar 26, 2010 2:51pm EDT




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• South Korea ship sinking may be North's grandstanding 12:25pm EDT

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South Korean naval ship Cheonan patrols the sea in an unidentified location in the territorial waters of South Korea in this undated file picture released by local Yonhap news agency in Seoul March 26, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Yonhap/Files




SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean naval ship sank near the disputed maritime border with North Korea, killing some of the more than 100 crew on board, but officials played down suggestions that it may have been attacked by the North.
World | South Korea | North Korea
A defense ministry official later said that the unidentified object the vessel had fired at on Friday night near the western sea border that divides the two Koreas may well have been a flock of birds.
Initial fears that North Korea might be to blame caused ripples on Wall Street, where share prices dipped partly on geopolitical concerns, and the South Korean won dropped against the dollar.
"It is premature to discuss the cause of this sinking," presidential Blue House spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye told Reuters early on Saturday. "It is not clear whether North Korea was involved."
The Joint Chiefs of Staff also said it could not conclude that the reclusive North was behind the attack.
Yonhap news agency 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.
"An unidentified reason caused a hole in the ship, which led to its sinking. Currently 58 have been rescued out of the total 104 on board. Rescue efforts are under way," the ministry said.
"The ship fired a warning shot at an unidentified object, and the object was later suspected to have been a flock of birds. But we are checking."
Earlier, South Korean media had quoted officials as saying the North could have torpedoed the ship.
COLD SHOULDER
The sinking comes as the impoverished North has become increasingly frustrated by its wealthy neighbor, which has given the cold-shoulder to recent attempts to reopen a lucrative tourist business on the northern side of the Cold War's last frontier.
It also coincides with mounting pressure on Pyongyang to end a more than one-year boycott of international talks to end its efforts to build a nuclear arsenal.
Reports of a possible naval clash saw the won weaken roughly 0.45 percent against the dollar and were cited by analysts as one reason for a dip in U.S. stocks.
The price to insure Korean sovereign debt rose to 83 basis points from 78 basis points in the wake of the news, according to two trading sources. That means the cost to insure $10 million in South Korean debt increased by $5,000 to $83,000.
Markets have become used to saber-rattling by North Korea and occasional brief border skirmishes, and dips in response to such incidents tend to be quickly reversed.
In Seoul, the government held an emergency security meeting following the incident.
The ship sank near the disputed Yellow Sea border off the west coast of the peninsula which was the scene of two deadly naval fights between the rival Koreas in the past decade.
Navies from the rival Koreas exchanged gunfire for the first time in seven years in the Yellow Sea waters in November, damaging vessels on both sides.
The international community has been pressuring the North to give up efforts to build nuclear weapons, promising help for its broken economy if it does so.
There has been widespread speculation that North Korea's iron ruler, Kim Jong-il, was about to visit China, his only significant ally and on which he has depended almost entirely for economic aid after a new conservative government in Seoul effectively ended years of free-flowing assistance.
(Additional reporting by Kim Miyoung and Jon Herskovitz; Writing by Jonathan Thatcher; Editing by Alex Richardson)

 

[manokie]

oh no ... 50 korean died...... hmmmmmmmm

war soon????????????????????

 

[dysentry]

Obama might be forced into another war

via Korea Herald

 

[Ramseth]

"An unidentified reason caused a hole in the ship, which led to its sinking. Currently 58 have been rescued out of the total 104 on board. Rescue efforts are under way," the ministry said.
"The ship fired a warning shot at an unidentified object, and the object was later suspected to have been a flock of birds. But we are checking."

Yeah, right, and in 1982 in south Atlantic some birds of the Exocet species chewed a hole in HMS Sheffield and sank it.

Earlier, South Korean media had quoted officials as saying the North could have torpedoed the ship.

Commonsense. Of course. What else could blow a hole in a ship of steel? Who else would attack a South Korean ship?

 

[allanlee]

Commonsense. Of course. What else could blow a hole in a ship of steel? Who else would attack a South Korean ship?

The place where the explosion occurred oso house the ammo depot....... could be an "honest" mistake by own crew

 

[Ramseth]

The place where the explosion occurred oso house the ammo depot....... could be an "honest" mistake by own crew

Yeah, right, and they used cannon to fire warning shot at birds but accidentally blew a hole in their own stern. It's quite clear they fired on a North Korean ship first under circumstances where they're in the wrong to fire first. The North Korean ship fired back and sunk their ship. So now try to cover up.

 

[allanlee]

this may look like a bird from far far away....

The report says flock of birds :p

 

[postnew]

 

[postnew]

Korea tensions over claims that warship was sunk by torpedo
By David Williams and Paul Bentley
27th March 2010
A South Korean navy ship was sunk yesterday in what was feared to have been a torpedo attack by a North Korean submarine.
Several of the 104 crew were killed and others were missing last night.
The drama, close to the disputed sea border between the two Koreas, raised concern that growing tensions between them could escalate into conflict.

North Korea had earlier threatened ' unprecedented strikes', including nuclear attacks, against its neighbour and the U.S., claiming they were planning to topple the regime of Kim Jong-il.
Relations between the two have also come under strain recently with disputes over cross-border tourism and a joint economic zone.
There are fears in the South that the North is becoming increasingly erratic and dangerous.
As ships and helicopters searched the scene of the sinking for survivors last night, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency meeting of security ministers in Seoul.
The incident happened in the Yellow Sea near Baeknyeong Island, the westernmost point of South Korea and a key military post.
The South Korean ship, the 1,200-ton corvette Cheonan, was on a routine patrol when it was hit by an explosion close to its stern.

Family members grieved...​

 

[postnew]

A father (C) of one of the 46 missing navy sailors scuffles with navy military policemen who were trying to stop media attending a briefing by Choi Won-il, captain of the sunken ship Cheonan, in Pyeongtaek south of Seoul March 27, 2010. The father and other relatives of missing sailors were trying to bring in the media to the briefing but were prevented by the military. South Korea on Saturday all but ruled out the chance that North Korea was involved in the sinking of one of its navy vessels near their disputed border. Initial speculation that North Korea might have sunk the ship had spooked Wall Street on Friday. Share prices dipped partly on geopolitical concerns, and the won dropped against the dollar.

A mother of one of the 46 missing navy sailors shouts next to navy military policemen who were trying to stop media attending a briefing by Choi Won-il, captain of the sunken ship Cheonan, in Pyeongtaek south of Seoul March 27, 2010.

Family members of the South Korean naval ship Cheonan which sank near South Korea's Baeknyeong Island, close to North Korea, in the western waters, watch TV for the latest reports on the ship, near a naval port in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Saturday, March 27, 2010.​

 

[postnew]

South Korean Navy's Ship Salvage Unit members return from their search for possible survivors from sunken naval ship 'Cheonan' as a Marine (front) stands guard at the seashore on Baengnyeongdo, an island near the border with North Korea March 27, 2010.

South Korean Marines stand guard to search possible survivors from a sunken naval ship 'Cheonan' as rubber boats for saving sailors are placed along the seashore on Baengnyeongdo, an island near the border with North Korea March 27, 2010.

Life boats, believed to be used by sailors of the sunken South Korean naval ship Cheonan, are seen on a beach as South Korean Marines stand guard on South Korea's Baeknyeong Island, close to North Korea, in the western waters on Saturday, March 27, 2010. Hopes faded Saturday for the rescue of 46 sailors missing 12 hours after an explosion occurred on a South Korean military ship that sank in one of the country's worst naval disasters, even as authorities stepped up searches in murky waters near the sea border with rival North Korea.

Victims family members of South Korean Navy crews weep as they wait to board a ship to go Baeknyeong island in Incheon port, South Korea, Saturday, March 27, 2010.​

 

[Soul_Reaper]

Where were they thinking.....do they think they kids are playing boy scouts?? It's war for god sake...

Their sons most probably were conscripts serving their NS....... at least they died for their country....... here in Singapore the peasants are serving NS to serve who? :(

F*CK the FTs !!

 

[postnew]

In this photo released by the Voice of People, family members of still-missing sailors return to a naval base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea Monday, March 29, 2010 after visiting an area near where the South Korean naval ship Cheonan went down. The 1,200-ton Cheonan, on a routine patrol with other vessels, went down near the tense maritime border with North Korea following a mysterious explosion late Friday. No one has been found since an initial rescue of 58 sailors from the Cheonan.

A small boat is lowered from a South Korean coast guard ship as they continue to search for survivors from the sunken South Korean navy ship near South Korea's Baengnyeong Island on Monday, March 29, 2010.​

 

[postnew]

South Korean Marines search for possible survivors and bodies from the sunken naval ship Cheonan, along the seashore on Baengnyeongdo, an island near the border with North Korea March 29, 2010.

South Korean Marines patrol in search for missing crew members of a sunken naval ship on the beach on South Korea's Baengnyeong Island on Monday, March 29, 2010.​

 

[postnew]

Salvage team members and soldiers watch as they move a part of the sunken naval vessel closer to the shore by use of a giant crane off Baengnyeongdo island near the maritime border with North Korea, northwest of Seoul April 12, 2010. Fifty-eight crew members were rescued but dozens of other sailors remain missing after the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan blew apart and sank on March 26 off the island.​

 

[postnew]

South Korean marines patrol on Baengnyeongdo island near the maritime border with North Korea, northwest of Seoul April 9, 2010. South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan blew apart and sank on March 26 off the island. North Korea convenes an annual meeting on Friday of its rubber-stamp parliament, where the secretive state typically reveals changes to its ruling elite and may tip its hand on succession plans for its communist dynasty. Pyongyang is under pressure to end its boycott of nuclear disarmament talks, while tensions with its far richer southern neighbour are high after the sinking of a South Korean naval ship last month in which Seoul has said the North may have had a hand.

A South Korean resident harvests oysters on Baengnyeongdo island near the maritime border with North Korea, northwest of Seoul April 12, 2010, while a giant crane placed to salvage parts of sunken naval ship Cheonan is seen.

Salvage team members and soldiers watch as they move a part of the sunken naval vessel closer to the shore by use of a giant crane off Baengnyeongdo island near the maritime border with North Korea, northwest of Seoul April 12, 2010.​

 

[postnew]

Salvage team members and soldiers watch as they move a part of the sunken naval vessel closer to the shore by use of a giant crane off Baengnyeongdo island near the maritime border with North Korea, northwest of Seoul April 12, 2010.​

 

[postnew]

Navy personnel carry the body of one of the 46 missing crew members of the navy corvette Cheonan that sank on March 26, at the Second Fleet Command of Navy in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul April 15, 2010. South Korea's military began lifting on Thursday the stern of the naval ship in order to determine what caused a blast that sank it last month near a contested border with the North. The South's defence minister said this month that the 1,200-tonne Cheonan may have been hit by a North Korean torpedo, stoking concerns that the incident could start a conflict.​

 

[postnew]

Navy personnel carry the body of Petty Officer 1st class Seo Dae-ho, one of the 46 missing sailors of the sunken South Korean naval ship Cheonan, at the naval port in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 15, 2010.

Family members of Petty Officer 1st class Lee Sang-joon cry as Navy personnel carry his body, one of the 46 missing sailors of the sunken South Korean naval ship Cheonan, at the naval port in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 15, 2010.​