Saturday, May 22, 2010

Another view on the sinking of the Cheonan

The Korea Report explains that not all South Koreans believe their government's findings on sinking of the Cheonan, which concluded that a North Korean torpedo sank the ship. They point to many unanswered loose ends, and a video highlighting the questions and doubts.

For one --they ask-- is it plausible to believe that a single torpedo from a small North Korean submarine, operating in heavily-monitored South Korean waters, could sink a large warship in one single shot, with such high precision, and then escape undetected? Moreover, the sinking occurred in the area where South Korean and US navies were engaged in a joint military exercise. Also peculiar is that South Korea first announced that it detected no North Korean submarine movements around the Cheonan at the time of the sinking. Has the North Korean navy perfected a stealth technology and a precision attack method unknown to the US and South Korean forces?

In any case, as expected, North Korea has denied any involvement in this incident and has warned of war if there is a retaliation. But unprecedented, it has offered to send its own investigative team to look at the evidence. It will be interesting how Lee Myung-bak handles this.

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