Posted on 03/26/2010 3:29:43 PM PDT by traumer
A massive rescue operation was underway this evening to save the crew of a South Korean navy ship feared to have been hit by a North Korean torpedo.
Several of the 104 crew were reported to have been killed and others are missing from the ship which sunk in waters near Baengnyeong island, close to the disputed maritime border between the two Koreas.
South Korea's president President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency meeting of security ministers amid concerns the incident could become the flashpoint to draw the countries closer to renewed conflict.
A South Korean ship is said to have fired in apparent retaliation at a vessel in the north but there were no details of whether it was hit.
Officials in the South Korean capital Seoul reported 59 people had been rescued from the unidentified 1,500-tonne naval vessel which was said to have begun to sink after an explosion at the rear.
The ship was on a routine patrolling mission when it was rocked by an explosion believed to have been caused by a torpedo strike, possibly fired from a submarine.
'The cause is not certain and an investigation is underway - our priority is the rescue operation,' a South Korean official said last night.
Six naval ships and two coast guard vessels were rushed to the waters to try to save the crew, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported. Rescue helicopters and ambulances also sped to the scene.
Police in Seoul were placed on heightened alert in case of attack.
Baeknyeong Island, four hours by boat from the port of Incheon, is the westernmost point of South Korea and is a key military post for South Korea because of its proximity to the North.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
It’s just, “Some damn thing in the Balkans.”
Keeping my eye on this one.
Those cheers you are hearing are coming from the White House and the “other side of the aisle”.
Yes, and the recipient is ill equipped to take the call.
The jackass in chief is a joke.
- quite a difference eh?
North Koreans are now saying that a flock of birds attacked the ship. You can’t make this up.
I thought the boat sunk itself, kinda like how all those GOP Local HQ windows just broke on their own.
Will we honor our treaty with the South?
The silence from DC is deafening....send Alec Baldwin...please Barry we need a sequel.
Crap, I meant the South Koreans...
South Korea is denying that North Korean military action caused this ship to sink.
"PRESENT".
Actually, the 'war' part came first. They have been officially 'at war' for a while.
No, long slip, much bigger and newer, very sad situation and we will send nothing on this in the way of a response. Perhaps a letter and a stern timeout. Lets call Team America...our only hope is Gumby and Pockey dammit.
I don’t think thats the right vessel... my guess is the sunken ship was one of the Pohan class corvettes, the most common & fits the description in the story.
wake homing and acoustical Russian designed torpedoes appear to work
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