Free Republic

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korean authorities stepped up searches for 46 sailors still missing Saturday, hours after a naval ship sank near a disputed sea border with North Korea.Navy and coast guard vessels, as well as air force planes, were searching the waters near South Korea's Baeknyeong Island where the 1,200-ton Cheonan sank during a routine patrolling mission. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said rescuers had picked up 58 sailors but 46 still were missing. President Lee Myung-bak ordered officials to find the cause of the sinking quickly while keeping in mind all possibilities, presidential spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye...

N.Korea Threatens S.Korean Marines with 'Annihilation' In this video grab from MBC, North Korean propaganda leaflets are found on Baeknyeong Island in the West Sea on Monday. North Korea on Monday floated hundreds of propaganda leaflets into South Korea threatening the "annihilation" of the 6th Marine Brigade on Baeknyeong Island, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The burst of belligerence comes less than a week after the execution of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s uncle Jang Song-taek, who was seen as a moderate. The previous day, the North Korean propaganda website, Uriminzokkiri also threatened to "mercilessly throw a battering ram"...

Military authorities on Tuesday revealed video footage showing the moment the Navy corvette Cheonan sank in the West Sea last Friday. The one-minute-20-second clip was filmed by a marine stationed on nearby Baeknyeong Island using a thermal observation device. This makes it possible to observe objects at night by detecting temperature differences. The clip shows the moment the bow of the Cheonan started to sink with the stern already broken off three minutes after an explosion broke the ship in two on March 26 and a naval fleet of high-speed boats approached the sinking ship at 9:56 p.m. In the...