ALMOST 60 people were yesterday rescued from a sinking South Korean naval vessel, which had a crew of 100, though US and South Korean officials played down suggestions that North Korea might have played a role.
Initial reports hinted that a North Korean vessel might have been involved. But a presidential aide last night told the Yonhap news agency that there had been no sign of North Korean military in the area.
The agency quoted the official as saying that satellite pictures and other information showed no sign of any North Korean activity in the vicinity.
If the sinking did result from a North Korean attack, it would be a dangerous escalation of tensions by the reclusive dictatorship, which last year fired a long-range missile over Japan and tested its second atomic warhead.
South Korea said 58 sailors had been rescued, but had no further comment. Seoul’s presidential office said it had convened an emergency meeting of security officials to determine the cause of the sinking and consider any response. The defence ministry said the vessel was holed below the waterline but declined to specify a cause.
Seoul said a second South Korean warship opened fire after the sinking. South Korean media had initially said the salvoes were aimed at a North Korean ship, but the joint chiefs of staff said suspicious movements on a radar screen could have been a flock of birds.
North and South Korean vessels exchanged fire in the same waters in November. The vessel sank 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.
The international community has been pressuring the North to give up efforts to build nuclear weapons, promising help for its broken economy if it does so.
– (Copyright Financial Times Limited 2010)