Report: South Korean navy ship sinks
(CNN) ,March 26, 2010 3:05 p.m. EDT- A South Korean navy ship sank in the Yellow Sea near North Korea early Saturday, and the navy shot at an unidentified ship toward the north, according to reports quoting South Korean government officials.
Yonhap News Agency quoted navy officials saying Friday that a ship carrying 104 crew members sank off the Seoul-controlled island of Baengnyeong in a flashpoint maritime border area between the Koreas.
The 1,500-ton corvette Cheonan went down at 9:45 p.m. Friday near the island, but the cause of the incident was not immediately known, the officials said.
A rescue operation was under way. There were no immediate reports of casualties, but some sort of explosion occurred in the rear of the ship, officials told Yonhap.
The South Korean government issued a statement saying the reason for the incident remains unclear, but it wasn't ruling out some sort of military engagement.
Yonhap quoted naval officials as saying a South Korean vessel fired at a ship toward the north later.
However, South Korean government officials said it isn't certain whether North Korea was involved in the incident. Yonhap said local residents reported hearing gunfire for about 10 minutes.
As a result of the incident, South Korean government officials held an emergency meeting of ministers handling security-related matters, officials told Yonhap.
Aides to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said the first priority is rescuing crew members, and the Defense Ministry said 58 members of the crew have been rescued.
South Korea's Korean Broadcasting System said navy vessels and helicopters were rescuing crew members, some of whom reportedly jumped into the sea after the blast, the KBS report said.
The official said the Sockcho, another South Korean navy vessel patrolling nearby, fired at unidentified ships north of the area.
North Korea has said recently it is bulking up its defenses in response to recent joint South Korean-S. JKorenews agency also quoted South Korean military officials saying North Korea conducted dozens of artillery firing drills Friday.
2 comments:
Why can’t the South Koreans get the US Navy or Dr. Ballard from Woods Hole Institute to go down and inspect/film the damage to the patrol ship Cheonan. It should be a ‘piece of cake’. It’s only in 500 feet or less of water..?!?
What’s the big mystery? It was either torpedoed by the North Koreans, it had a mechanical or ordinance failure, or it hit a mine or obstruction in the water.
http://www.answers.com/topic/yellow-sea
“…Large inlet of the western North Pacific Ocean, between northeastern China and the Korean peninsula. Renowned for its fishing grounds, it connects with the East China Sea on the south; the Shandong Peninsula extends into it from the west. Two major arms of it are the Bo Hai (northwest) and Korea Bay (north). Excluding the Bo Hai, it has an area of about 146,700 sq mi (380,000 sq km) and a maximum depth of roughly 500 ft (152 m). It derives its name from the colour of the silt-laden water discharged into it by major Chinese rivers, including the Huang He (Yellow River), which flows into the Bo Hai, and the Yangtze. Leading port cities include Qingdao and Dalian in China, Inchon in South Korea, and Nap’s in North Korea..”
Doesn’t anyone want the truth as to what happened, without the Diplomatic White wash of “shooting at flocks of birds”..??? Give us a break, we aren’t all stupid – and the world knows Kim Jung ('the pill') Ill is 100% nuts..!!!
My Anonymous friend, anyone wants the truth as to what happened,and that's why we exchange the information that comes to all of us from various and different sources from everywhere.
I do not need to learn from books about the Yellow sea because I was
serving in the Greek M.Navy as oceangoing master for many years in this Pacific area China-Japan-Korea, to USA,Canada, S.America and
Australia range.
Nice to hear from you ,regards
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