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North Korea accused over warship
AFP, SEOUL
Friday, May 21, 2010, Page 1
¡§All parties should stay calm and exercise restraint.¡¨¡X Ma Zhaoxu, Chinese
foreign ministry spokesman
South Korea accused North Korea yesterday of torpedoing a warship near their
disputed border, sending regional tensions rising as the North responded with
threats of war.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak promised ¡§resolute countermeasures¡¨ after a
multinational investigation team said there was overwhelming evidence a North
Korean submarine sank the ship on March 26 with the loss of 46 lives.
The US, Britain, Australia and Japan strongly condemned Pyongyang, but China,
whose backing would be crucial in any attempt to penalize the North, appealed
for restraint and did not criticize its ally.
Taiwan's Presidential Office yesterday did not follow Japan and the US in
condemning North Korea, instead emphasizing that the national security unit
would continue to monitor the development closely.
It said it would continue to stay alert and prepare a necessary response, but
did not elaborate on what ¡§necessary response¡¨ meant.
Pyongyang said the investigators' report was based on ¡§sheer fabrication¡¨ and
threatened ¡§all-out war¡¨ in response to any attempt to punish it.
¡§The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired
by a North Korean submarine,¡¨ the investigators said in a report. ¡§There is no
other plausible explanation.¡¨
The White House called the attack ¡§a challenge to international peace and
security and a violation of the armistice agreement¡¨ which ended the 1950-1953
war.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned a ¡§callous act,¡¨ while Japan
said the North's action was ¡§unforgivable¡¨ and soured hopes of restarting
six-party nuclear disarmament talks.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the facts in the report as deeply
troubling.
The sinking caused outrage in South Korea, which declared five days of national
mourning last month. Cross-border relations, which have been frosty for months,
went into a deep chill.
However, Seoul has apparently ruled out a military counterstrike for fear of
igniting all-out war and is instead likely to ask the UN Security Council to
slap new sanctions on its neighbor.
This would need agreement from China, a veto-wielding member.
¡§All parties should stay calm and exercise restraint,¡¨ Chinese foreign ministry
spokesman Ma Zhaoxu (°¨´Â¦°) said in Beijing, adding that China would make its own
assessment of the investigation results.
The investigators laid out apparently damning evidence against Pyongyang, which
is thought by some analysts to have acted in revenge for a naval firefight in
November in the area.
The 1,200-tonne corvette was split apart by a shockwave and bubble effect
produced by a 250kg homing North Korean torpedo, the report said.
It said parts salvaged from the Yellow Sea ¡§perfectly match¡¨ a type of torpedo
that the North has offered for export.
A marking in Korea's hangeul script was found on one recovered section and
matches markings on a stray North Korean torpedo recovered by the South seven
years ago, investigators said.
Investigators displayed evidence at a nationally televised press conference,
including rusty torpedo parts with two propellers.
They said the attack was likely carried out by a small submarine that
infiltrated from international waters to avoid detection.
¡§We confirmed that a few small submarines and a mother ship supporting them left
a North Korean naval base in the West [Yellow] Sea two to three days prior to
the attack and returned to port two to three days after the attack,¡¨ the report
said.
The North's top organ, the National Defense Commission, said it would send its
own investigators to the South to check the purported evidence.
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