N Korea denies sinking S Korean warship

[Warped]

I know there was a thread about this but more details are emerging (at least here in the Western World)

North Korea denies sinking warship; South Korea vows strong response

Washington (CNN) -- The president of South Korea has vowed "resolute" measures against North Korea for its alleged attack on a South Korean warship, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday.

A five-country committee announced Thursday morning in Seoul that they had concluded a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that sunk the South Korea warship in March.

Investigators recovered a propeller from the torpedo that blew the Cheonan in half on March 26, Yoon Duk-yong, the committee's co-chair, told reporters.

The propeller was from the kind of "torpedoes that were exported from North Korea and the letters and the fonts on the torpedo are the are the same that are used by North Korea," Yoon said at a Thursday morning news conference. "This torpedo was manufactured in North Korea."

Yoon said that the investigation found that a small to mid-sized North Korea sub "fired the torpedo that sunk the Cheonan vessel and retreated back to their border."

As the 1,200-ton vessel went down, 46 sailors were lost near disputed waters in the Yellow Sea.

"(We) will take resolute countermeasures against North Korea and make it admit its wrongdoings through strong international cooperation and return to the international community as a responsible member," President Lee Myung-bak told Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in phone talks, according to Lee's office, Yonhap reported.

North Korea denied torpedoing the warship just as the team of investigators in Seoul unveiled their report.

"We had already warned the South Korean group of traitors not to make reckless remarks concerning the sinking of warship Cheonan of the puppet navy," North Korea's National Defence Commission said in a statement, according to the Korean Central News Agency. "Nevertheless, the group of traitors had far-fetchedly tried to link the case with us without offering any material evidence."

"It finally announced the results of the joint investigation based on a sheer fabrication" the defense commission said, according to the state-run KCNA. The commission called the new report part of a "smear campaign."

The White House backed the report issued Thursday in Seoul, saying it "points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that North Korea was responsible for the attack."

"This act of aggression is one more instance of North Korea's unacceptable behavior and defiance of international law," said a statement by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. "This attack constitutes a challenge to international peace and security and is a violation of the Armistice Agreement."

President Obama spoke with South Korean President Lee bak on Monday and "made clear that the United States fully supports the Republic of Korea, both in the effort to secure justice for the 46 service members killed in this attack and in its defense against further acts of aggression," Gibbs said.

"North Korea must understand that belligerence towards its neighbors and defiance of the international community are signs of weakness, not strength," Gibbs' statement said. "Such unacceptable behavior only deepens North Korea's isolation. It reinforces the resolve of its neighbors to intensify their cooperation to safeguard peace and stability in the region against all provocations."

The United States has a mutual defense treaty with South Korea and Japan to defend "against any aggression," so if a military confrontation develops, the United States would be responsible for defending South Korea, a U.S. military official said.

"I don't think it will come to that," the official said. "They know they need to have a response, but there is too much at stake for South Korea to have a confrontation on the Korean peninsula. North Korea has nothing to lose, but South Korea is a serious country with a huge economy."

There are military options for South Korea beyond firing missiles, said John Delury, who studies North and South Korea at the Asia Society.

Anything combative would hurt South Korea economically, Delury said, but the country could increase its naval presence along the line that divides South and North Korea in the waters surrounding the countries. He notes that comes with a risk.

"Those actions could trigger a conflict," he noted.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who will visit Seoul next week, will talk with the South Korean government about the investigation, Assistant Secretary Campbell said.

Clinton will also visit Japan and China during her trip, and the North Korean issue is likely to be high on the agenda.

Clinton will have "the closest possible consultations with Japan, China and South Korea about the next phase," Campbell said.

On Monday, President Obama spoke on the phone about the investigation with President Lee.

The president reiterated "the strong and unwavering commitment of the United States to the defense and the well-being of its close friend and ally, the Republic of Korea," a White House statement said about the conversation.

Numbers, any more input would be nice

 

[Acepilotf14]

Oh shit, here it comes. SK best pimp slap them. They can't be allowed to just walk away from this.

 

[15357]

Our politicians are ****ing coward sons of bitches or too communist to do anything but shoot words at NK. They make me sick. It's not like the 70s or 80s anymore; we've lost our collective spines as we grew fat and weak in our delusions of peace and prosperity.

An air strike would be great, but it might involve too much: SEAD/DEAD strikes then the real strike, etc. etc. A cruise missile on an NK naval base would also be great, but I'm not very hopeful.

Then what? 80s style blackops missions to burn down a NK garrison town? Economic measures? Economic measures have not for the past 50 years, done anything to hurt NK: they've managed somehow create a modern self-reliable economic system without dependence on imports.

Let's see if the politicians grow a spine or not.

 

[Shyam]

but shoot words at NK. They make me sick.

Do they really have other options though ?

 

[staticprimer]

Yes, WWIII.

 

[Sloth]

Hope SK does grown a spine more than just harsh words... Not for WWIII, but so the people can have something to be proud of. Its like sitting next to the bully that punches you and only having you and the rest of the class tell him off and steal some of his food at lunch time.

 

[Bob_Marley]

Options are not as limited as they first appear.

The suspension of the "sunshine policy" is clearly having an effect - otherwise the Norks wouldn't have done this. I would suggest that they're really beinging to hurt. Block out all aid to NK, demand thier return to nuclear talks and what not.

Either they'll initiate war themselves or the government will collapse (I say "or", I mean they'll initiate war then collapse or do it without the whole war part.).

Firing off cruise missiles or launching airstrikes will not have a positive effect on the situation.

 

[flamingdts]

I'm betting a 100 bucks that in about a month somebody will come up with a conspiracy theory stating the sinking of the submarine was South Korea's excuse to invade NK.

 

[15357]

I'm betting a 100 bucks that in about a month somebody will come up with a conspiracy theory stating the sinking of the submarine was South Korea's excuse to invade NK.

Actually, it's already started. Conspiracy theories now range from a US torpedo to Cthulhu.

 

[Tyguy]

It's sad how childish NK proves itself to be, over and over and over again. Am I wrong in making the assumption that their need to be attention whores is at least partly behind their shenanigans?

 

[CptStern]

north Korean leaders are so much more menacing and awesome than south korean leaders:

"We had already warned the South Korean group of traitors not to make reckless remarks concerning the sinking of warship Cheonan of the puppet navy,"

north korea sinks a south korean ship; south korea retaliates by producing a report saying north korea sank their ship. north korea retaliates to the news they sunk a south korean ship by warning their targets to "STFU stupid puppets"

guess which one represents south korea?

 

[<RJMC>]

north Korean leaders are so much more menacing and awesome than south korean leaders:



north korea sinks a south korean ship; south korea retaliates by producing a report saying north korea sank their ship. north korea retaliates to the news they sunk a south korean ship by warning their targets to "STFU stupid puppets"

guess which one represents south korea?

so doing your assigment of propaganda eh?