South Korea Says Not Clear North Involved In Ship Sinking

[tekisui]

Source: Reuters/New York Times

SEOUL (Reuters) - A South Korean naval ship was sinking on Friday night with more than 100 people on board, but officials played down earlier suggestions that it may have been the result of an attack by North Korea.

"It is not clear whether North Korea was involved," Presidential Blue House spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye told Reuters.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff also said it could not conclude that the reclusive North was behind the attack.

Earlier, South Korean media had quoted officials as saying the North could have torpedoed the ship near the disputed western sea border that separates the two Koreas.

The sinking comes as the impoverished North has become increasingly frustrated by its wealthy neighbor, which has given the cold-shoulder to recent attempts to reopen a lucrative tourist business on the northern side of the Cold War's last frontier.

It also coincides with mounting pressure on Pyongyang to call off a more than one-year boycott of international talks to end its efforts to build a nuclear arsenal.

The presidential office had earlier also said a South Korean vessel had fired at an unidentified vessel in the North.

The government held an emergency security meeting following the incident, Yonhap news agency said.

The ship was sinking near the disputed Yellow Sea border off the west coast of the peninsula which was the scene of two deadly naval fights between the rival Koreas in the past decade.

Local media reports said at least 59 South Korean sailors survived the attack and an unknown number appeared to have been killed or are missing. A rescue operation was under way.

more: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2010/03/26/world/international-us-korea-ship.html

[Schema Thing]

1. yikes, was this friendly fire?