Torpedo ‘likely cause of warship sinking’

AN explosion from a torpedo likely sank a South Korean warship that went down near the tense border with North Korea last month, the South’s defence minister said yesterday amid growing speculation Pyongyang may be behind the blast.

Defence Minister Kim Tae-young said the most likely cause of the disaster was a torpedo exploding near the ship, with the force of the underwater blast ripping the vessel apart. Investigators who examined salvaged wreckage separately announced yesterday that a close-range, external explosion likely sank it.

“Basically, I think the bubble jet effect caused by a heavy torpedo is the most likely” cause for the blast, Kim told reporters.

Kim, however, did not speculate on who may have fired it and said an investigation was ongoing and it is still too early to determine the cause.

Seoul has not directly blamed North Korea for the blast, and Pyongyang has denied its involvement, but suspicion remains given the country’s history of provocation and attacks on the South. Local media have increasingly been speculating the disaster was due to a North Korean attack.

The Cheonan was on a routine patrol on March 26 when the unexplained explosion split it in two in one of South Korea’s worst naval disasters. Forty bodies have been recovered so far, but six crew members are still unaccounted for and are presumed dead.

The site of the sinking is near where the rival Koreas fought three times since 1999, most recently a November clash that left one North Korean soldier dead and three others wounded. The two Koreas are still technically at war because their 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Kim told lawmakers shortly after the blast that a North Korean torpedo or mine was among the suspected culprits.

Also yesterday, investigators said a preliminary investigation of the front part of the 1,200-ton ship pointed to an external explosion.