Free Republic

A North Korea submarine crew member has gone public for the first time to disclose details of Pyongyang's submarine operations. Lee Kwang Soo, 46, is the sole crew member remaining from the captured North Korean Sango class submarine that ran aground on a South Korean beach during an espionage mission in September 1996. North Korean submarine captured by South Korea in 1996. Lee broke his silence after the international investigation revealed Pyongyang’s role in the torpedo attack against the South Korean ship Cheonan. "I have seen 130-ton Yeoneo class submarines several times," he explained, refuting the North Korean claim to...

War tensions have been high since last week's announcement by the South Korean government that a 60-foot North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that sank a South Korean corvette and killed 46 sailors at the end of March. The South Koreans stated that a Yeono-class (alternatively spelled "Yono") midget submarine fired the torpedo in March. (They also field a larger midget submarine, the Sang-O, that fits 15 sailors. At least one of these subs was also on patrol when the attack happened, according to an international team of investigators looking into the incident with South Korea.) The attack occurred in...