South Korea navy ship sinks
Source: Agencies |
March 27, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A South Korean navy ship has sunk off an island not far from North Korea.
A South Korean official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said early this morning that the ship sank some four hours after it began taking on water.
The official said at least 58 of the 104 crew members have been rescued. There was no immediate confirmation of casualties. A rescue operation was still under way.
The cause of the sinking was not immediately clear.
The navy ship, which was on a routine patrolling mission, began sinking off the coast of South Korean-controlled Baengnyeong Island close to North Korea around 9:45pm, the official said.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported an explosion in the rear of the 1,200-ton ship.
The South Korean military moved to strengthen its vigilance near the maritime border, the site of three bloody naval clashes in the past between the warring Koreas.
The divided peninsula remains in a state of war because the three-year Korean conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953.
Earlier yesterday, North Korea's military threatened "unpredictable strikes," including a nuclear attack, in anger over a report that South Korea and the US were preparing for possible instability in the country.
After the ship began sinking, President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency meeting of security-related ministers, Yonhap said, citing presidential spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye.
A South Korean official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said early this morning that the ship sank some four hours after it began taking on water.
The official said at least 58 of the 104 crew members have been rescued. There was no immediate confirmation of casualties. A rescue operation was still under way.
The cause of the sinking was not immediately clear.
The navy ship, which was on a routine patrolling mission, began sinking off the coast of South Korean-controlled Baengnyeong Island close to North Korea around 9:45pm, the official said.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported an explosion in the rear of the 1,200-ton ship.
The South Korean military moved to strengthen its vigilance near the maritime border, the site of three bloody naval clashes in the past between the warring Koreas.
The divided peninsula remains in a state of war because the three-year Korean conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953.
Earlier yesterday, North Korea's military threatened "unpredictable strikes," including a nuclear attack, in anger over a report that South Korea and the US were preparing for possible instability in the country.
After the ship began sinking, President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency meeting of security-related ministers, Yonhap said, citing presidential spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye.
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