Cheonan 'May Have Hit N.Korean Mine'

The Chosun Ilbo ^ | 3/30/2010 | The Chosun Ilbo

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young on Monday suggested that the 1,200-ton corvette Cheonan may have hit an old North Korean mine before it sank in waters near the de-facto maritime border in the West Sea on Friday night.

"Neither the government nor the Defense Ministry has said that there is no possibility of North Korean involvement," Kim told the National Assembly's Defense Committee. "We need to reach a conclusion after looking at all possibilities."

Kim said one of them is that an old North Korean sea mine drifted into the area. "North Korea brought in about 4,000 sea mines from the Soviet Union during the Korean War and placed about 3,000 of them in the West Sea and the East Sea. We searched for and removed them in 1959 and 1984, but it would have been impossible to retrieve all of them."

He said the South Korean Navy placed no mines in the West Sea although some depth charges were modified and placed there in the past, "but they were all retrieved in 2008." The minister added there would be no way to prevent a mine from being planted by other means.

[rogertarp]

God , I hope so so we don’t have to go to war for an outrageous attack on our ally!!!

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

The “attack” has not been proven.The Ministry In Seoul does not think it was an attack, if you read the article.

[rogertarp]

“They didn’t hit me, Mama— its ok”

[piytar]

Um, the chances that zero will go to war for an ally are, well, zero.

[Robe]

This is pure BS WWII and Korean war mines were CONTACT mines , meaning you had to HIT them .
THIS mine was a mine the exploded UNDERNEATH the vessel.... a more modern mine design..
See other post here to see pics of what a modern mine / torpedo will do

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

We signed a Mutual Defense Treaty with South Korea in 1954.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Wait until the Ministry of Defense comes up with a report. At this point, its pure speculation.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

However,The War Powers resolution of 1973 made clear that U.S. defense treaties did not constitute specific congressional authorization for introducing forces into hostilities.

[Robe]

28 years in the USN tells me what is BS and whats not.. anybody with a fundamental knowledge of naval warfare had this pegged as an a acoustic mine or torpedo from the get go. A WWII mine would have had contact at the WATER LINE not underneath the ship .. a WWII mine would not have broken it in two as the explosive force would be horizontal not vertical.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

"As it is a very sensitive and important question, (the government) will find the cause through a thorough and scientific investigation," Lee said at the start of a weekly emergency economic meeting at his office, Cheong Wa Dae, according to his spokesman Park Sun-kyoo.

[montanajoe]

Has the north made any comment? Seems strange that they would not take credit...if they had nothing to do with it.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

No and it would be wise for the NKs to be quiet. They do not want to fan the flames of anger in South Korea. The South Koreans have a bigger problem of solving this “accident”.