Friday, March 26, 2010

South Korean Ship Sinks; Incident Under Investigation

VOA News 26 March 2010


Photo: AP
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (C) talks with Defense Minister Kim Tae-young (2nd R) during National Security Council ministers meeting in Seoul, 26 Mar 2010


The South Korean cabinet is meeting in emergency session, after a South Korean navy ship sank near the disputed sea border with North Korea. South Korea's Yonhap news agency is also reporting that the South Korean navy has fired at an unidentified vessel in the area.

It was not immediately clear why the South Korean ship sank, but media reports from Seoul say officials there are investigating whether the vessel was hit by a North Korean torpedo.

The South Korean navy says about half of the more than 100 sailors on board were rescued, but the others are feared dead.

The ship went down late Friday local time in disputed waters off the western coast of the Korean peninsula.

The developments follow recent warnings from North Korea that it was bolstering its defenses in response to joint U.S.-South Korean military drills this month.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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