South Korea rules out DPRK\’s involvement in warship sinking

A South Korean naval ship, the Cheonan, sinks near South Korea\’s Baeknyeong Island, close to DPRK, in the western waters on Saturday, March 27, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
SEOUL, March 27 (Xinhua) — Chances seem low that the Democratic People\’s Republic of Korea is involved in its warship sinking, said South Korean officials at the presidential office on Saturday.

\”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 condition of anonymity.

\”Given the investigations by government ministries so far, it is the government\’s judgment that the incident was not caused by North Korea, although the reason for the accident has not been determined yet,\” a senior government official was quoted.

\”An unidentified reason caused a hole in the ship, which led to its sinking. Rescue efforts are under way,\” the Defense 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,\” it said.

Cheong Wa Dae said that there has been no \”unusual move\” by Pyongyang so far despite initial media reports that the DPRK \”might be to blame for the incident\” that happened Friday night near the disputed western sea border between the two sides.

Initial media reports said the incident might be caused by a possible torpedo attack from an unidentified DPRK vessel, citing military sources.

The Democratic People\’s Republic of Korea has not responded to the incident.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called an emergency security meeting and ordered a \”quick and thorough\” investigation Saturday into the caused of the sinking, and investigators are asked to keep in mind \”all possibilities\”, his office said.

He also urged the military to make \”all-out efforts\” to rescue as many survivors as possible.

He had instructed his government to update other members of the six-party nuclear talks with the development of the incident, while urging government agencies to take measures to reassure the public, Presidential Office spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye said at a press briefing after the meeting.

Rescue operation to search for the 46 missing sailors is still underway Saturday, Yonhap News Agency reported.

\”Many of the missing people might have been trapped inside the sunken ship,\” JCS (the Joint Chief of Staff) spokesman Lee Ki-Sik told a parliament committee.

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.

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.

BANGKOK, March 26 (Xinhua) — Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Friday expressed his concern over the red-shirted march around the capital Bangkok on Saturday, Thai News Agency reported.

Meanwhile, the premier assured the coalition government has no policy to disperse the ongoing red shirt gathering.

However, it is worrying since by now it is still unknown yet how the march will be organized, while the red shirts have kept changing their march\’s plan, Abhisit said.

It will be better if the red-shirts declare the plan since it will be helpful for the government to operate security measures and for the public to avoid any difficulty to occur during the march, the prime minister said.

The red-shirted march will be organized as the 122 Inter- Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly and Related Meetings will also start from this Saturday.

The meeting will be hosted at Centara Grand hotel at Ratchaprasong Intersection in the center of Bangkok as over 2,000 people from 153 countries will participate in.

Hence, Thai Interior Minister Chavarat Charnvirakul said that if the red shirts will not scatter their march on Saturday, it will be good for the country\’s image, the National News Bureau of Thailand (ANT) under the government\’s Public Relations Department reported.

In a related development, Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said the national emergency center together with hospitals in eight provinces nearby Bangkok are ready to deal with the red-shirted march.

After the rally debut, it is recorded that some 185 red shirts were sick and 176 of the total already recovered as only nine persons are still being healed at hospitals, he said.

The red-shirted main rally site is now at the Phan Fah Bridge in the center of capital Bangkok.

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FlASH: SOUTH KOREAN NAVY SHOOTS AT UNIDENTIFIED VESSEL: YONHAP

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ISLAMABAD, March 27 (Xinhua) — Militants Saturday blew up two schools in Mohamnd and Khyber tribal areas of Pakistan\’s northwest in a fresh attempt against educational institutions, local media reported.

A government boys\’ middle School was blown up by militants in Alinagar area of subdivision Saafi, Mohamand Agency earlier Saturday morning, according to official sources.

Unknown militants came at around 1:00 AM local time and placed explosive materials in different parts of the school. The school was comprising of 16 rooms. Eleven rooms were blown up completely while five were damaged partially. It is to be noted that since January 2009, this has been the 36th school targeted by the militants in Mohamand Agency.

In another incident in Qambar Khel area of subdivision Bara, Khyber Agency, earlier Saturday morning at between 04:00 to 05:00 a.m. local time, a government boys\’ primary school was blown up by militants from Khyber Agency. The school had five rooms and four of them were damaged completely while the one left behind received partial damages. The school was without a boundary wall.

Pakistan Taliban, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, have claimed responsibility for the two incidents.

Pakistan has witnessed a rise in religious conservatism in parts of its northwest tribal belt with militants opposing education, especially female education and hundreds of schools have been destroyed in the last a few years.

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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. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

by Kim Junghyun

Seoul, March 27 (Xinhua) — A South Korean naval vessel with 104 crew members onboard sank into waters off the west coast of the Korean peninsula late Friday due to an unknown cause, alarming the nation that anxiously watched the overnight rescue process of what is called one of the biggest tragedies of the country\’s naval history.

The news of the 1,200-ton warship sinking off the South Korean island of Baekryeongdo, located near the disputed maritime border between South Korea and the Democratic People\’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), initially sparked much speculation here that the cause of the incident was possible attacks from the DPRK, which quickly died down as authorities scrambled to determine a cause of the incident.

WARSHIP SINKING

The patrol ship, named Cheonan, sank near the country\’s northernmost island of Baekryeong after an unidentified explosion in the back of the ship made a hole in the bottom of it, local media reported citing military officials. Another South Korean naval ship fired at an unspecified object northward in a following action.

President Lee Myung-bak held a second consecutive emergency meeting with security officials early Saturday, following a late- night emergency meeting convened immediately after the news hit home.

\”The President instructed the Armed Forces authorities to do all they can to rescue as many survivors as possible. At the same time, he said the authorities concerned should find out what exactly transpired in the incident in a speedy and thorough manner, considering all possibilities,\” presidential office Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye told reporters earlier in the day.

As the coast guard is put on the highest alert, all public officers in the country are also put on standby during the weekend at an instruction of Prime Minister Chung Un-chan for possible emergency situations in the wake of the incident.

No fatalities have been reported yet. Thirteen crew members have been hospitalized for injuries but they are not in a critical condition, according to South Korea\’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC).

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?DPRK March 27, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

RESCUE OPERATION

While 58 crew members out of 104 onboard the warship were rescued alive as of early Saturday morning, 46 members still remain missing.

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. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

by Kim Junghyun

Seoul, March 27 (Xinhua) — A South Korean naval vessel with 104 crew members onboard sank into waters off the west coast of the Korean peninsula late Friday due to an unknown cause, alarming the nation that anxiously watched the overnight rescue process of what is called one of the biggest tragedies of the country\’s naval history.

The news of the 1,200-ton warship sinking off the South Korean island of Baekryeongdo, located near the disputed maritime border between South Korea and the Democratic People\’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), initially sparked much speculation here that the cause of the incident was possible attacks from the DPRK, which quickly died down as authorities scrambled to determine a cause of the incident.

WARSHIP SINKING

The patrol ship, named Cheonan, sank near the country\’s northernmost island of Baekryeong after an unidentified explosion in the back of the ship made a hole in the bottom of it, local media reported citing military officials. Another South Korean naval ship fired at an unspecified object northward in a following action.

President Lee Myung-bak held a second consecutive emergency meeting with security officials early Saturday, following a late- night emergency meeting convened immediately after the news hit home.

\”The President instructed the Armed Forces authorities to do all they can to rescue as many survivors as possible. At the same time, he said the authorities concerned should find out what exactly transpired in the incident in a speedy and thorough manner, considering all possibilities,\” presidential office Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye told reporters earlier in the day.

As the coast guard is put on the highest alert, all public officers in the country are also put on standby during the weekend at an instruction of Prime Minister Chung Un-chan for possible emergency situations in the wake of the incident.

No fatalities have been reported yet. Thirteen crew members have been hospitalized for injuries but they are not in a critical condition, according to South Korea\’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC).

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?DPRK March 27, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

RESCUE OPERATION

While 58 crew members out of 104 onboard the warship were rescued alive as of early Saturday morning, 46 members still remain missing.