S Korean Navy ship sinks possibly caused by mine explosion: YTN-Rescue continues in S Korean ship sinking, 46 still missing

----


A South Korean naval ship, the Cheonan, sinks near South Korea's Baeknyeong Island, close to North Korea, in the western waters on Saturday, March 27, 2010.



This undated picture shows South Korea's Cheonan naval ship in South Korea, Friday, March 26, 2010. South Korea's military scrambled Cheonan naval vessels to the western waters near the disputed maritime border with North Korea late Friday after an explosion ripped a hole in the bottom of a military ship, officials and news reports said.


Members of South Korean Navy's Ship Salvage Unit (front) on a rubber boat and a naval patrol ship patrol to rescue possible survivors from sunken naval ship Cheonan off Baengnyeongdo, an island near the border with North Korea, March 27, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)




South Korean Navy's Ship Salvage Unit members on a rubber boat patrol to rescue possible survivors from sunken naval ship Cheonan off Baengnyeongdo, an island near the border with North Korea March 27, 2010.


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 March 27, 2010.



South Korean President Lee Myung-bak presides over a national security-related ministerial meeting regarding the sinking of a South Korean naval ship at the presidential Blue House in Seoul March 26, 2010. Several South Korean sailors were killed and one of its naval ships with more than 100 aboard was sinking on Friday after possibly being hit by a North Korean torpedo, South Korean media reported.


South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (C, seated at table) presides over a national security-related ministerial meeting after receiving news of a sinking naval ship at the presidential Blue House in Seoul March 26, 2010. Several South Korean sailors were killed and one of its naval ships with more than 100 aboard was sinking on Friday after possibly being hit by a North Korean torpedo, South Korean media reported.



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. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)




Military divers plunged into the waters near South Korea's tense maritime border with North Korea on Saturday to search for 46 missing marines from a naval ship that exploded and sank, officials said. Families voiced their anger as hopes faded for the missing crew after the ship sank in one of South Korea's worst naval disasters. Divers tried twice to get to the wreckage, Rear Adm. Lee Ki-sik of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told lawmakers.

Friday's Navy ship sinking might be caused by mine explosion, South Korean media YTN quoted Cheong Wa Dae sources as saying on Saturday.

General of the South Korean Navy Lee Ki-shik said later Friday that the 1,200-ton warship Cheonan went down after the unexplained explosion ripped a hole in the ship's bottom.

But both the government and the military authorities said the exact cause of the incident cannot be pinpointed yet.

South Korean officials are narrowing down the possibilities that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is involved in the incident.

Likelihood of the DPRK's involvement in the incident seems low, Seoul's Yonhap News Agency reported on Saturday, citing multiple officials at the Presidential Office of Cheong Wa Dae.

"It is hard to say for sure now, but chances appear to be slim that North (DPRK) was related," a senior official told Yonhap on the condition of anonymity.

There has been no unusual movements by the DPRK so far, Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye said at a press briefing after President Lee Myung-bak convened a second emergency meeting with security officials earlier Saturday.

Meanwhile, the rescue operation has been stepped up on Saturday. Military divers arrived at the scene of the warship sinking to go underwater to search the sunken vessel. But Yonhap said that they had to delay the operation due to inclement weather.

There were a total of 104 sailors onboard when the ship sank. Fifty-eight have been rescued later Friday, and other 46 crew members still remain missing.

President Lee Myung-bak convened a second emergency meeting with security officials earlier Saturday, demanding for a "quick and thorough" investigation, and rescuing the missing by all means.

Lee also ordered to inform related nations engaged in the six- party talks of proper information about the incident, and urged government agencies to take measures to reassure the public.

The rescue operation to search for the 46 missing sailors of a South Korean ship that sank late Friday is still under Saturday, Seoul's Yonhap News Agency reported.

So far, 58 out of the 104 crew members aboard the 1,200-ton ship that sank off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula have been rescued, with two of them hospitalized for minor cerebral hemorrhage, the agency said. Earlier reports said 60 sailors have been rescued.

The cause for the sinking is unknown yet. President Lee Myung- bak demanded at the second emergency meeting with security officials earlier in the day a "quick and thorough" investigation and rescuing the missing by all means.

Lee also ordered related nations engaged in the six-party talks be informed of proper information about the incident while urging the government agencies to take measures to reassure the public, Presidential Office spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye said at a press briefing after the meeting.

Kim added that there are no special movements by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) so far.

The ship "Cheonan" went down off the South Korean island of Baekryeongdo off the west coast around 21:45 p.m. Friday local time (12:45 GMT Friday), with an explosion in the back of the ship, and another South Korean naval vessel fired at an unspecified target toward the north in response.

Navy and the National Maritime Police Agency has dispatched nine ships and a helicopter to the waters near the Baehryeongdo, and pledged to mobilize Navy's all rescue force to search the missing.

The military authorities will also send divers into the waters to find out whether the ship-based artillery shells or external attack caused the explosion, but it said the final conclusion cannot be made only after the sunken ship is dragged out of the water.

Yonhap also quoted unnamed official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade as saying that it is too early to tell whether the DPRK played a role in the incident.

Local media reported later Friday that the incident might be caused by a possible torpedo attack from an unidentified DPRK vessel, citing military sources.