New Evidence Implicates US For Cheonan (S. Korean Ship) Explosion in FF

[Dok]

South Korea urges world to punish North Korea over warship sinking

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak on Friday urged the world community to take North Korea to task over the March 26 sinking of the South Korean corvette Cheonan, which claimed the lives of 46 sailors.

“Today, the Republic of Korea’s government referred the matter of North Korea’s attack against the Cheonan to the United Nations Security Council,” Mr. Lee said at the opening of a summit on Asian security in Singapore.

Pyongyang had to “admit its wrongdoing and must pledge to never again engage in such reprehensible action,” he added.

North Korea’s nuclear weapons drive and the Cheonan incident were serious threats to global security and peace, he said.

“North Koreans have to suffer the consequences”

Mr. Lee called on Pyongyang to “give up your nuclear weapons ambition,” noting that it was “never too late to embark on the path of mutual benefit.” He said South Korea was not seeking confrontation and war with the North, but together with the United States and other allies, had to respond firmly. The North Koreans “must understand very clearly that they have to suffer the consequences,” Mr. Lee said.

His remarks came amid rising tension and sabre rattling on the Korean Peninsula after the South, backed by the findings of a multinational investigation team, accused the North of sinking the Cheonan with a torpedo.

The Stalinist regime in Pyongyang, however, furiously denied any involvement in the incident and threatened to start an all—out war against the South in case of punitive measures.

The present situation on the Korean Peninsula was so grave “that a war may break out at any moment,” North Korean diplomat Ri Jang Gon told a UN forum on Thursday.

He blamed South Korea and the United States for aggravating the situation, saying they were seeking further sanctions against Pyongyang and “fabricated” the naval incident for that purpose.

Mr. Ri said North Korea was ready to react to any sanctions “with various forms of tough measures including an all—out war.”

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/international/article446559.ece

[Dok]

S Korea formally refers Cheonan case to UNSC: President Lee

SEOUL, June 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Friday that his country has formally referred the case of a warship sinking to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), according to Seoul's Yonhap News Agency.

Lee made the remark while delivering a keynote speech in a regional security forum in Singapore, Yonhap said.

"Today, the Republic of Korea government referred the matter of North Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea)'s attack against the Cheonan to the United Nations Security Council," Lee was quoted as saying.

He noted the nuclear disarmament of the DPRK and the Cheonan issue are not only issues for South Korea, but also serious problems that concern the peace and stability of the entire Northeast Asia and the whole world.

On March 26, South Korea's 1,200-ton Navy frigate "Cheonan", with 104 crew members onboard, went down off the South Korean island of Baekryeong off the west coast due to an unexplained explosion that split it into two. Fourth-six sailors were killed.

Seoul said after completing investigations that the warship was torpedoed by the DPRK. But Pyongyang denied its involvement in the incident.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-06/04/c_13333995.htm

[Dok]

North Korea Threatens Military Strike Over South's Broadcasts, KCNA Says


North Korea warned of an “all-out military strike” to destroy South Korean loudspeakers and other propaganda tools along their fortified border, according to the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency.

South Korea’s preparation for psychological warfare, is a “direct declaration of a war” against the North, the general staff of the communist state’s military said today in a statement on KCNA. The North’s military retaliation may turn Seoul into “a sea of flame,” the statement said.

The South has already installed loudspeakers in 11 places along the border and is attempting to set up electronic displays, according to the statement.

South Korea hasn’t detected any abnormal activities near the border area with the North, Yonhap News said following the KCNA report today, citing South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Tensions have risen on the Korean peninsula since an international panel concluded on May 20 that the North was behind a torpedo attack that sank the Cheonan warship, killing 46 of the South’s sailors. South Korea’s president Lee Myung Bak has taken the case to the United Nations Security Council, backed by the U.S. and Japan, to seek a resolution condemning North Korea.

The North says the allegations are fabricated and has threatened to retaliate over any punitive action taken against it.

South Korea will resume anti-North broadcasts across the border after the United Nations Security Council makes a determination about the sinking, Yonhap News reported yesterday, citing South Korea’s defense minister.


http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-12/north-korea-threatens-all-out-military-strike-on-south-s-loudspeakers.html

[citizenx]

Well, the speakers are somewhat provocative, but I think the North Koreans would really be pi$$ed off about UN sanctions or condemnations anyway, and the gov't. here has said it would only activate the speaker system in the event of the UN voting on sanctions or official condemnation.

I was just talking to a Candian friend who has taught here much longer than I -- a business prof. at the local Univ. -- even before the naval exercises were post-poned he was telling me I was worrying too much about  the possibility of war breaking out here just yet, and maybe he was right.

Generally, I think things are calming down here a great deal since the elections.  Things back-fired for Lee Myung Pak big-time.  That doesn't mean the "bulldozer" couldn't go ahead and do some really provocative things without the full support of the Korean people, but hopefully he is having second thoughts about that right now.

[citizenx]

You know, the more I think about it, the crazier it appears to be.

Lee Myung Pak thinks the North Koreans sunk a South Korean ship and killed over 40 sailors, and his plan is to blast them with propaganda from a bunch of loudspeakers.

What part of that isn't juvenile, pathetic and insane?

[Dok]

SKorea: North raised readiness, no activity seen

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea has raised its military readiness though no signs of fresh provocation were visible amid high tensions after the South blamed it for a deadly warship attack, the South's defense chief said Tuesday.

The U.N. Security Council said late Monday it is "gravely concerned" the ship sinking could endanger peace on the peninsula and urged both Koreas to refrain from any provocative acts. A statement was issued after the council listened to separate presentations from each side, with Seoul seeking U.N. action to punish Pyongyang.

Both Koreas have exchanged harsh rhetoric and bolstered their military readiness, but Seoul officials have said it is unlikely renewed tension would lead to all-out war.

"Now, North Korea is maintaining a considerably strengthened vigilance posture and as you know it's been issuing many threats and statements through various channels," South Korean Defense Minster Kim Tae-young told the National Assembly on Tuesday. "But there have been no serious military activities at the border and in rear areas."

South Korea has taken punitive measures against North Korea after the warship Cheonan was sunk by a torpedo attack in March, killing 46 sailors. North Korea flatly denies the allegation and has warned any retaliation would trigger war, with its military threatening Saturday to turn Seoul into "a sea of flame."

Kim said South Korea is closely watching North Korea's military because it may engage in provocative acts at anytime.

At the U.N. Security Council meeting, South Korea made a 23-minute presentation and showed a video on the findings it reached with U.S., British and other foreign investigators.

North Korea repeated its stance that it had nothing to do with the sinking.

"We are just a victim," North Korea's deputy U.N. ambassador Pak Tok Hun told reporters before heading into his closed-door meeting with the council. "So we'd like to make our position clear here."

U.N. diplomats familiar with contacts on possible council action said China, the North's closest ally, is opposed to a third round of sanctions against Pyongyang and indicated the more likely result will be a presidential statement. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because the contacts have been private.

A presidential statement is considered a weaker form of rebuke than the imposition of sanctions.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak renewed calls Tuesday for international action to get North Korea to acknowledge and apologize for the ship sinking, according to the presidential office.

The two Koreas are still technically at war because their 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The sinking occurred near the tense Korean sea border - a scene of three bloody maritime battles.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_SKOREA_SHIP_SINKS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME

[citizenx]

It can't break out here right now.  I haven't had my second cup of coffee.

Wow, western (Rothschild) press sure wants a freakin' war here.  That does make me worry.  It will take them longer to manufacture this war than it would for KIm Jong Il, if he really wanted one.

I'm less worried about him than them.

[Dok]

NKorea warns of military response on ship sinking

UNITED NATIONS — North Korea warned Tuesday that its military forces will respond if the U.N. Security Council questions or condemns the country over the sinking of a South Korean navy ship, which it vehemently denies.

At a rare news conference, North Korea's U.N. Ambassador Sin Son Ho demanded that a military investigation team from North Korea be permitted to go to the site of the sinking to verify the result of a South Korean probe "in an objective and scientific way," which the South has refused to allow.

There is "a touch and go situation that a war may break out any time ... on the Korean peninsula due to the reckless military maneuvers of South Korea," which has accused the North of torpedoing the ship and is seeking U.N. action to punish it.

Sin called the accusation against North Korea "a farce concocted by the U.S. and South Korea in pursuit of their political purposes" and accused the South of fabricating the results of its investigation "from A to Z."

If the North Korean inspection team visits the site, Sin said, "everything will be clarified."

The ambassador said North Korea wasn't accusing anyone of sinking the 1,200-ton Cheonan on March 26, which claimed the lives of 46 South Korean sailors. He reiterated his government's claim that the corvette was grounded, noting that the area where it sank has "a lot of rocks."

The ambassador called the news conference a day after North Korea and South Korea made separate presentations to the Security Council on the ship sinking.

The council said in a statement afterward that it is concerned the ship sinking could endanger peace on the Korean peninsula, and it urged Seoul and Pyongyang to refrain from any provocative acts.

The council did not say what action it might take in response, and Mexico's U.N. Ambassador Claude Heller, the current council president, reiterated Tuesday that consultations were still taking place among the 15 members.

Sin was asked how North Korea would respond if the Security Council imposed a third round of sanctions or issued a weaker presidential statement.

"If the Security Council release any documents against us condemning or questioning us in any document, then myself as (a) diplomat, I can do nothing — but follow-up measures will be carried out by our military forces," the ambassador warned.

In a lengthy opening statement, Sin said the Security Council had already been besmirched in February 2003 due to then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's "lies" about Iraq. He was referring to Powell's presentation to the council making the case for war against Iraq that included evidence indicating Saddam Hussein possessed nuclear weapons, which proved to be false.

"If the Security Council is again deceived by another lie and tackles this case unfairly, thus failing to prevent any conflict on the Korean peninsula, the U.S. and the Security Council shall bear the full responsibility for the subsequent consequences," Sin warned.

Asked if North Korea would rule out the use of nuclear weapons in response to any Security Council action, he said: "Nuclear weapons is our deterrent because we are always threatened by outside forces."

At Monday's informal council meeting, a team of South Korean military and intelligence officials and experts from the U.S., Australia, Britain, Sweden and Canada, explained evidence it said showed that the Cheonan was sunk by a torpedo launched by a North Korean midget submarine, said Yoon Duk-yong, co-chair of the team.

"We identified the torpedo as North Korean CHT02D on the basis of our recovered piece of that torpedo, which was the propulsion part including two propellers, a shaft, steering plates and a motor," he said.

Sin said that despite an extensive search by U.S. and South Korean warships after the sinking, "a fishing boat appeared all of a sudden and claimed it had collected a remnant of torpedo of 1.5 meter long by fishing net just five days before the release of the investigation on May 20."

He called this a "funny story" like those in "Aesop's Fables."

The ambassador questioned how the remnants of a torpedo that split the warship with high explosives could remain intact "without any deformation or bent." He said that if the North had launched an attack it wouldn't leave a marking on the torpedo propulsion in Korean script, and he said writing in blue marker on the remnant could not have survived the heat from the explosion.

As for the claim that a North Korean mini-submarine was used in the attack, Sin said that on the day of the sinking the U.S.-South Korean joint military exercise "Foal Eagle" was in full swing with many warships from both countries engaged in anti-submarine, anti air and marine interdiction operations and underwater and air reconnaissance units were mobilized in the "waters of the sinking."

In these conditions, he said, it is doubtful that a small North Korean submarine attacked the Cheonan, which has anti-submarine capacity, "and it is also unconceivable that the U.S. and South Korean warships equipped with the state-of-the-art detective devices failed to detect the submarine."

Sin also questioned the credentials and participation of the experts in determining the results.

The ambassador said the United States was the main beneficiary of the sinking, hyping the "threat from North Korea" to get former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to reverse a campaign promise and allow the U.S. military to move to a new base in Okinawa and using the ship sinking to maintain its hold "on Japan and South Korea as its servants."

It also gave President Barack Obama's administration a "strong image before the Congress mid-term election" in November and provides justification for a massive arms deal for South Korea and for sending aircraft carriers to "a delicate area" for the security of North Korea and China, he said.

As for South Korea, he said blaming the North was designed to evade "responsibility for the deterioration of inter-Korean relations" by the conservative government which was making "a foolish attempt to drive a wedge between China and my country which have excellent relations."

Meanwhile on Tuesday, air raid sirens blared as hundreds of thousands of South Koreans donned gas masks Tuesday in a nationwide civil defense drill, as Seoul's defense chief said North Korea has bolstered its military readiness amid tensions over the sinking of a South Korean warship.

Although both Koreas have exchanged harsh rhetoric and increased their military vigilance in recent weeks, Seoul officials have said it is unlikely renewed tension would lead to all-out war.

The defense drill was the first on a nationwide scale for possible chemical, biological and radiological attacks since 1989, the National Emergency Management Agency said. It said the exercise was resumed in the aftermath of the ship sinking in March that South Korea blamed on North Korea. South Korea has taken punitive measures against North Korea, including trade restrictions, since the sinking.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jQydsIWmNQZpwRriADac51u5rx8gD9GBV2AO1

[Dok]

US, Seoul Cooperating on Warship Sinking Response

As South Korea pushes the United Nations Security Council to censure North Korea, a senior American diplomat is reiterating Washington's full cooperation with Seoul.

The United States and South Korea are calling their mutual response to the sinking of the Cheonan warship a "defining moment" for their alliance.

The statement was issued following talks here between U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and top South Korean Foreign Ministry officials Thursday.

Campbell says the two governments are working together during what he calls an "absolutely critical period" in the relationship between Seoul and Washington.

"We face North Korean provocations from a position of profound strength.  And, the strength and resolve of our position will be demonstrated in a number of ways in the coming days," he said.

Campbell explains that those include a possible condemnation of Pyongyang by the United Nations Security Council, bilateral actions - which he did not specify - and what he terms "appropriate and responsible" joint military activities.

South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon says the visiting American envoy stressed the United States is taking seriously the March 26 sinking of the Cheonan.

Lee expresses appreciation for Washington's support of Seoul's stance and policy towards Pyongyang in wake of the attack.

However, some planned responses appear to have been tempered.  South Korea vowed to quickly re-start propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts along the border.  It has as yet to happen.  Seoul also announced joint maritime maneuvers with the U.S. Navy, which officials here say have now been twice delayed.

Campbell says he sees no sign of the South Korean government wavering in its response.

North Korea has denied responsibility for the explosion which sank the Cheonan, killing 46 sailors. It calls South Korea's punitive responses, including pushing the United Nations to censure Pyongyang, provocative acts that could lead to war.

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/US-Envoy-Seoul-Washington-to-Demonstrate-Responses-for-Alleged-Sinking-of-Warship-96550899.html

[Dok]

U.S. envoy calls for strong message to North Korea on ship

The world must send a strong message to North Korea that its provocative actions are unacceptable, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Thursday after talks on how to respond to the sinking of a South Korean warship.


South Korea wants the U.N. Security Council to rebuke the North in a resolution imposing tough sanctions over the sinking of its navy corvette Cheonan in March, killing 46 sailors.

Pyongyang has threatened military action if it is punished for what it says is a fabricated accusation that it attacked and sank the Cheonan.

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters Washington and Seoul were trying to work closely with China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council. China is also North Korea's main ally and benefactor and has trodden a cautious line on the incident.

"We feel very strongly that the international community must take a strong stance in the face of this provocation," Campbell said after meeting South Korean officials.

"We've been very clear about sending a strong message of vigilance ... of how unacceptable this sort of provocation, this undermining of the armistice is," he said.

Campbell met South Korea's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and senior officials to coordinate a response by the Security Council, which has expressed grave concern about the sinking.

Neither Campbell nor South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon could say whether there had been any indication from China it was showing a greater willingness to join in any U.N. action, but said Beijing understood what was needed.

"I think it would be fair to say China understands the gravity of the situation and currently South Korea and the United States are making very best efforts to ensure that we are working closely with China on the way ahead," Campbell said.

Analysts say neither North nor South Korea is ready to go to war but see a possibility of more skirmishes in disputed waters off the west coast or along their heavily armed land border.

Pyongyang has said the accusations against it were a U.S.-led conspiracy aimed at giving South Korean President Lee Myung-bak a political boost.

Lee has demanded an apology from the North. The South has also cut off all trade and most humanitarian aid to its destitute neighbor, and said any aggression by the North's 1.2 million-strong army -- one of the world's largest -- would be met with swift and intense retaliation.

A team of international investigators, led by South Korea's military, said in May that a North Korean submarine torpedoed the ship, presenting evidence that included parts of the weapon recovered from the site of the incident.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65G0DH20100617

[Dok]

U.S., S. Korean diplomats discuss warship sinking

SEOUL, June 17 (Xinhua) -- A senior U.S. diplomat met with his counterparts in Seoul Thursday to discuss ways to condemn the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) at the United Nations Security Council for the sinking of a South Korean warship.

U.S. assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell, who is on a two-day visit to Seoul, met with S. Korea's foreign minister Yu Myung-hwan and vice foreign minister Chun Yung-woo, separately, as Seoul steps up its diplomatic drive to convince the U.N. Security Council members to punish Pyongyang torpedoing the warship and taking 46 lives.

"We're determined to show that our alliance is very firmly together during an absolutely critical period," Campbell was quoted by Yonhap News Agency as telling Yu at the start of their meeting.

The two agreed that the international community should send a clear message to Pyongyang, according to Yonhap.

Seoul's foreign ministry said informal discussions on the issue have been underway among 15 members of the Council, including five veto-wielding permanent members.

Pyongyang also made its own case at the Council, claiming Seoul fabricated the findings of investigations led by a multinational team of investigators.


http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-06/17/c_13354826.htm

[Dok]

UN condemns SKorea ship sinking

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The U.N. Security Council on Friday condemned a deadly attack on a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors and pointed a finger toward North Korea but didn't directly blame the reclusive communist nation.

A statement approved by all 15 council members expressed "deep concern" over the findings of a South Korean-led international investigation that concluded that a North Korean torpedo sank the 1,200-ton Cheonan on March 26.

The statement, read by the council president, calls for "appropriate and peaceful measures to be taken against those responsible."

But it doesn't identify who is responsible, and "takes note" of North Korea's response "that it had nothing to do with the incident."

North Korea has called for a new joint investigation by both Koreas "to verify objectively the truth of the incident." It warned that its military forces will respond if the council questions or condemns the country over the sinking.

South Korea had wanted the council to condemn the North. But China, the North's closest ally and a veto-wielding council member, opposed a third round of sanctions against North Korea or direct condemnation for the sinking.

The council statement "underscores the importance" of preventing further attacks or hostilities against South Korea or in the region, and stresses "the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia as a whole."

It calls for "full adherence" to the Korean Armistice Agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War and "encourages the settlement of outstanding issues on the Korean peninsula by peaceful means" and an early resumption of negotiations "with a view to avoiding conflicts and averting escalation."

South Korea sent a letter to the council on June 4 asking the U.N.'s most powerful body to respond to the sinking "in a manner appropriate to the gravity of North Korea's military provocation."

After more than a month of closed-door discussions, the United States announced Thursday that the five permanent council members - the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France - as well as South Korea and Japan had reached agreement on the text.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UN_KOREAS_SHIP_SINKS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

[Dok]

NKorea makes point-by-point denial of ship sinking

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea issued a lengthy point-by-point denial Tuesday that it torpedoed a South Korean warship, days after talks with the American-led U.N. Command over the sinking ended with no major breakthrough.

An international investigation concluded that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that sank the 1,200-ton Cheonan in March near the tense Korean sea border, killing 46 sailors. Tension on the Korean peninsula subsequently spiked, with North Korea flatly denying involvement and warning any punishment would mean war.

The U.N. Command - which oversees an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War - has held a series of talks with North Korea to discuss the sinking since July but each meeting has ended with no agreement. In the latest meeting last Wednesday, North Korea said it demanded that the U.S. and South Korea bring their key evidence linking the North to the sinking to a border village, while the U.N. Command remained focused on its calls for higher-level talks.

On Tuesday, North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission published an approximately 7,000-word statement accusing the South Korean-led investigation of fabricating data in its report. The U.S. was also part of the investigation.

North Korea "decided to disclose before the world what sheer fabrication and conspiratorial farce they orchestrated on the basis of information gathered so far," said the statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. The two countries "will never be able to escape the sledgehammer blow of the times and history for their fabrication," it said.

North Korea disputed the probe's conclusion that an aluminum torpedo sank the warship, saying all of its torpedoes are made of steel alloy. The statement said the North is willing to hand over parts of one of its torpedoes to South Korea for verification.

It said the "No. 1" marking that the investigation said was found on the torpedo parts was written in a style different from the one used in North Korea and should have been burned off in the intense heat of the blast.

The investigation also said a North Korean submarine was found to have left a west coast naval port two or three days prior to the sinking, but no submarine is based at that location, the statement said.

The statement came four days after the two Koreas briefly exchanged gunfire along their heavily fortified border. The gunfire again raised tension - which had earlier eased after North Korea made several conciliatory gestures - before world leaders are to gather in Seoul next week for the Group of 20 summit of leading rich and developing countries.

In Seoul, the Joint Chiefs of Staff dismissed North Korea's latest denials as "nothing new."

A JCS officer said South Korea has already provided explanations to counter such claims, citing satellite photos showing submarines at the North Korean naval base and testimonies by defectors about the numeral marking on torpedoes. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity citing office policy.

"North Korea intends to deal with the Cheonan case more actively" following the U.N. Command's rejection of its proposal, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the Seoul-based University of North Korean Studies.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_KOREAS_SHIP_SINKS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME

[Dok]

N.Korea ready to provide torpedo sample over warship sinking

North Korea said Tuesday it was ready to provide torpedo samples to back up its denial of responsibility for the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship.
It said aluminium alloy fragments salvaged by South Korea from the site of the sinking in March "prove, themselves, that the torpedo was not from the North".

North Korean torpedoes are "made of steel alloy material" not the aluminium alloy used in other countries, said the country's top ruling body, the National Defence Commission.

"(North Korea) is still willing to directly hand the steel alloy sample of Juche (self-reliance)-based torpedo" to the United States and South Korea, it said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

The 1,200-tonne Cheonan was split into two on March 26 near the tense disputed border off the west coast, in one of the divided peninsula's deadliest incidents in decades.

The incident plunged cross-border relations to their lowest point in years and sharply raised regional tensions.

The North, in a statement several thousand words long, rejected as the "most hideous conspiratorial farce in history" the findings of a Seoul-led multinational probe.

That inquiry in May concluded that a submarine-launched North Korean torpedo sank the corvette with the loss of 46 lives.

Investigators cited "overwhelming" evidence, including a partial torpedo motor and propeller said to have been dredged from the seabed. They said this matched a type which the North had previously offered for export.

The South announced reprisals including a partial trade cut-off and staged several naval exercises as a warning to the North, some of them in conjunction with the United States.

In September the South reaffirmed the findings in a final report.

Russia sent its own experts to Seoul for an independent investigation but has not made the results public.

The North has demanded the right to send a high-level team to the South to inspect the evidence, including the torpedo part.

The South has rejected the demand, saying the UN Command should handle the case as a serious breach of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 war.

The North, as it has done earlier, disputed the scientific findings of the multinational investigation.

It also cast doubt on the discovery of the torpedo motor and propeller.

"It is nonsensical for them to claim that a civilian fishing boat appeared all of a sudden and netted the propelling body which dozens of warships equipped with sophisticated detecting devices failed to find out in at least 50 days," the statement said.

Citing what it called assertions by some experts, the North also claimed the warship could have broken into two after running aground on rocks.

If the hull had been split by a torpedo, it said, the edges would not have been jagged and the hull would have had fragments embedded in it.

Some South Koreans have also been sceptical about the assertion that a North Korean torpedo sank the ship. Alternative theories have included a grounding and a stray mine.

The South's defence ministry made no immediate comment on the North's fresh claims. The ministry, when releasing its final report, had said it was acting to dispel "groundless suspicions".


http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NKorea_ready_to_provide_torpedo_sample_over_warship_sinking_999.html