BS: News?- SKorean navy shoots at ship to north

Subject: BS: News?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 26 Mar 10 - 11:10 AM

Report: SKorean navy shoots at ship to north
         
3 mins ago

SEOUL, South Korea – A news agency says a South Korean navy ship has fired shots at an unidentified ship.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said late Friday that the navy ship fired shots toward North Korea.

The report comes as South Korean officials confirm that a navy ship is sinking off the west coast near the border with North Korea. There's no word yet on what caused the sinking.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Officials say a South Korean navy ship is sinking off the country's west coast near the maritime border with North Korea.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said late Friday that it's not clear what caused the ship to sink. A rescue operation is under way to save crew members on board.

Authorities say the ship began sinking around 10:45 p.m. (1345 GMT) in the Yellow Sea.

Subject: RE: BS: News?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 26 Mar 10 - 12:42 PM

S.Korean navy ship sinking, North suspected-media 26 Mar 2010 16:25:59 GMT
Source: Reuters

* S.Korean ship with 104 aboard sinking near disputed border

* South Korea holds emergency security meeting

* Possibility of North Korean attack under investigation

* Several sailors reported dead (Adds details)

Cho Mee-young and Kim Miyoung

SEOUL, March 26 (Reuters) - A South Korean naval ship was sinking on Friday after possibly being hit by a North Korean torpedo and several sailors were killed, South Korean media reported.

A South Korean warship later fired at an unidentified vessel towards the north, indicating a possible attack, and the South's presidential Blue House was holding an emergency security meeting, the Yonhap news agency said.

"The ship appears to have begun sinking after an explosion at the rear of the ship," Yonhap quoted the South Korean Navy saying in a statement. "We have been unable to find the exact cause of the incident as of this moment."

The incident comes as destitute North Korea is facing pressure to end its year-long boycott of international nuclear disarmament talks, where it can win aid to prop up its broken economy in exchange for reducing the security threat it poses.

The North often rattles sabres ahead of major diplomatic meetings as a way to alarm its dialogue partners in the hope that they would be more willing to make concessions. [ID:nTOE62P0A3]

South Korea's YTN TV network said the government was investigating whether the sinking was due to a torpedo attack.

But the network also quoted a government source saying it was unclear yet whether the incident was related to North Korea.

"We are currently focusing on rescuing people," the source said.

The incident took place near a disputed Yellow Sea maritime border off the west coast of the peninsula that was the scene of two deadly naval fights between the rival Koreas in the past decade. [ID:nSGE62P0H0]

Yonhap said the 1,500-ton ship with 104 crew aboard began sinking around 9:45 p.m. (1245 GMT)

Local media reports said at least 59 South Korean sailors survived the attack and an unknown number appeared to have been killed or were missing. A rescue operation was under way.

Navies from the rival Koreas exchanged gunfire for the first time in seven years in Yellow Sea waters in November, damaging vessels on both sides. [ID:nSEO284842]

North Korea in recent weeks has said it was bolstering its defences in response to joint South Korean-U.S. military drills that were held this month. (Writing by Jon Herskovitz and Alex Richardson; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Subject: RE: BS: News?
From: Beer
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 12:23 AM

I'm very surprised that no one has commented on this thread. One of the most explosive situations since WW11. Or am I just being paranoid.
Beer (adrien)

thanks beardedbruce

Subject: RE: BS: News?
From: beeliner
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 12:50 AM

I watched two evening newscasts and didn't see it mentioned.

Subject: RE: BS: News?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 12:53 AM

I heard about it on NPR (shock! It's a "liberal" news outlet!). 58 confirmed rescued from a crew of 104. No news on finding the rest yet. Or the cause. The story I heard said the cause of the explosion was unknown and the South Koreans weren't laying blame.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: News?
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 01:03 AM

I did find this story on CNN pretty interesting.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: News?
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 01:09 AM

On the other hand, HERE is the ship story on CNN.

I think the Possum story is better........

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: News?- SKorean navy shoots at ship to north
From: gnomad
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 07:42 AM

The incident was reported in the UK news media, but didn't seem to get a high profile. I think this may partly have been because there was an absence of hard facts or dramatic pictures. There are only so many ways you can say "We don't really know what happened"

Also, although we were involved in the Korean war, it never seems to have held a big place in the public conciousness. I'm unsure why that should be so. BBC story here

Subject: RE: BS: News?- SKorean navy shoots at ship to north
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 08:23 AM

Scare mongering by the hawks, yet again.

Subject: RE: BS: News?- SKorean navy shoots at ship to north
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 09:05 AM

So many possible reasons.

Boiler explosion......drifting WW2 mine......Human error in the magazine.

Until they dive on the wreck to see which way the force went (in or out), there's no justification for slanted comment (in either direction).

My take would be that, if the N. Korean Government wanted to rattle sabres or start a fight, there are hundreds of better ways than sinking a corvette.

Wait and see seems to be the sensible option.

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: News?- SKorean navy shoots at ship to nort
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 11:11 AM

The origin of the explosion seems utterly unclear according to the latest reports. The ship was reported "deep in South Korean waters" at the time of the explosion; it is even deeper now.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: News?- SKorean navy shoots at ship to north
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 03:55 PM

If No. Korea did it they'd be blowing their trumpets and pounding their drums. No, I suspect something other than the DPRK this time.

Subject: RE: BS: News?- SKorean navy shoots at ship to north
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 05:54 PM

The report at MSNBC yesterday made it quite clear that the official S Korean position was that it was highly unlikely that N. Korea was implicated in this. The update today quotes fewer official opinions, but the S Korean government apparently stands by their opionion that N. Korea probably was not involved.

Rescuers search for S. Korea ship's crew

Seoul all but rules out fears that North sunk vessel; hope fades for missing

msnbc.com news services
updated 4:52 a.m. CT, Sat., March. 27, 2010

BAENGNYEONGDO, South Korea - Hopes faded for the rescue of 46 sailors missing a day after after an explosion occurred on a South Korean military ship that sank in one of the country's worst naval disasters.
Seoul, meanwhile, all but ruled out the chance that North Korea was involved in the sinking of its navy vessels near their disputed border.

Initial speculation that Pyongyang might have sunk the ship sparked fears around the world that tensions between South Korea and its hermetic neighbor was about to explode into outright war.

Navy and coast guard vessels, as well as air force planes, were combing the waters near South Korea's Baengnyeong Island where the 1,200-ton Cheonan sank early Saturday in bad weather and rough waves during a routine patrolling mission.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said an explosion tore a hole in the rear of the Cheonan late Friday night, shutting off the engine, wiping out power and taking the ship down a little over three hours later. Officials said they did not have more specific information about where on the ship the explosion occurred.

[end quotes]

There was a separate report yesterday, or possibly a couple of days ago, about a S. Korean ship having fired two "warning shots" in the general direction of an "unidentified ship" in the same general area, but the official stance on that story was that the "unidentified ship" most likely was a flock of birds. Reports seen did not specify an identity for the S. Korean ship, so it's only a vague possibility that it was the same ship that sank.

Agreed with Joe - the possum is a more relevant story pending something verifiable to make the ship sinking anything other than an accident at sea.

John

Subject: RE: BS: News?- SKorean navy shoots at ship to north
From: Lox
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 06:23 PM

Spaw,

I wonder if your Possum story could be related to this ...

(10 seconds of Ads first)


BREAKING NEWS!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: News?- SKorean navy shoots at ship to north
From: Riginslinger
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 09:18 PM

It's amazing!

          If modern war ships fired on a ship from the North and didn't hit anything, I think it's safe to assume they didn't intend to.

Subject: RE: BS: News?- SKorean navy shoots at ship to nort
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Mar 10 - 11:14 PM

Well, it might have been a cruise missile or a torpedo but we really don't know anything other than the ship had an explosion, some sailors survived to tell the tale, and the ship subsequently sank.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: News?- SKorean navy shoots at ship to nort
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 Mar 10 - 09:33 PM

Here's the latest update:

"Of the four possible causes — internal explosion, collision with a reef, explosion of a naval mine or a torpedo attack — the government considered a mine most likely, a Cheong Wa Dae official said yesterday [Monday].

"Judging from what the captain of Cheonan said and the condition of the ship, the possibility of a naval mine explosion seems a bit higher than the other three," the official said. "But we are looking into all possibilities for now."

Even if the explosion were caused by a naval mine, it would be difficult to determine underwater whether it was placed by South or North Korea, he said.

"It could have been a mine that we placed and failed to retrieve, or it could have been a North Korean mine that drifted from the North," the official said. "It would be hard to confirm underwater who laid it."

Several survivors from the sunken ship reportedly ruled out the possibility of an internal explosion or a collision with a reef, drawing attention to the scenarios of a mine explosion or a torpedo attack."

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: News?- SKorean navy shoots at ship to nort
From: Charley Noble
Date: 30 Mar 10 - 10:02 PM

Evidently the current theory is that a floating mine sunk the South Korean naval vessel, either an old mine that had broken loose from its mooring or a new one set loose by the North Koreans. Here's more of the story: Click here for report!

Evidently you must register as a member to access this story.

Charley Noble