US to Join Search for Missing S. Korean Sailors

By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

A U.S. warship will be sent to the Yellow Sea Monday to help search for South Korean sailors, who were listed as missing after an unexplained explosion sank the patrol ship Cheonan, Friday night, the Ministry of National Defense said Sunday.

Military divers from the 3,000-ton U.S. ship, which was participating in the ongoing Foal Eagle combined exercise with the South Korean military, will join the search-and-rescue mission, ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae told reporters.

Also the South Korean Navy’s 14,000-ton amphibious landing ship Dokdo will take part in operations.

The moves come as South Korean Navy divers have been struggling through strong winds and rough waves to locate 46 missing sailors out of the 104 crew of the sunken ship.

Korean divers from a Naval Ship Support Unit only succeeded in locating the front section of the sunken ship that broke into two, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

But they failed to rescue more survivors as well as locate the stern of the ship, which is believed to have drifted miles away from the site of the incident, due to adverse tidal conditions.

Navy patrol ships only retrieved floating items from the ship, including 22 life jackets and 15 safety helmets, 16 miles from the site of incident.

President Lee Myung-bak convened a meeting of security-related ministers earlier in the day, the fourth of its kind since the incident occurred in waters 1.8 kilometers southwest of the Baengnyeong Island near the western section of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de-facto inter-Korean sea border.

``Investigations should be conducted thoroughly and their results must be open to the public so as not to leave any single suspicion surrounding the incident,’’ Lee was quoted by his spokesman Park Sun-kyoo as saying. ``The most important thing at this stage is to rescue more survivors. The government should make every effort to save more lives based on the belief that our sailors are still alive.’’

The Navy dispatched two 730-ton minesweepers equipped with sonar detection equipment to the scene in an effort to reach the sunken vessel in shallow waters about 24 meters deep alongside the search-and-rescue vessel.

``Search efforts have encountered difficulties due to strong tides and bad visibility underwater,’’ Won told reporters. ``We hope the minesweepers will be able to detect the location of the sunken vessel.’’

As for the possibility that there may be more survivors, JCS spokesman Col. Park Sung-woo said, ``Until deaths are confirmed, they’ll be recognized as personnel missing in action.’’
Park said besides the efforts by divers and rescue ships, Marines were conducting operations ashore to locate bodies or equipment from the Cheonan.

According to military officials and experts, trained sailors could survive up to 69 hours in sealed compartments should automatic water-tight walls sealed as designed, but hopes of finding more survivors are fading.

The 1,200-ton ship sank after an unidentified explosion ripped through the rear of its hull, according to the JCS.

The 88-meter-long vessel was on a routine nighttime mission with a crew of 104. Fifty-eight sailors were rescued by navy and maritime police vessels.

The area near the NLL has been a flash point for conflict between the navies of both Koreas, as the North has never accepted the line, drawn up by the U.S.-led United Nations Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Fatal naval skirmishes took place there in 1999 and 2002; and in recent months, North Korea has been firing coastal artillery into the waters north of the NLL.

The cause of the incident remains under investigation.

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young plans to announce interim results on the cause of the tragedy to lawmakers on the National Assembly Defense Committee, today.

North Korean involvement had been feared, but the presidential office and the Ministry of National Defense sought to downplay that scenario

Initially, the JCS said an explosion either from the outside or inside appeared to have torn a hole in the rear of the vessel, shutting off the engine and sinking the ship in less than three hours.
Following a visit to the scene Saturday, however, Defense Minister Kim said a thermal observation device shows that the ill-fated vessel was split in half.

Some experts interpreted Kim’s remarks as the possibility that an outside impact _ either a torpedo or a mine _ might have caused the destruction.

Prime Minister Chung Un-chan pledged full-fledged efforts to help locate the missing sailors.
``The military will take the lead in handling the incident. Each ministry must provide all necessary cooperation and support,’’ Chung said during a meeting of Cabinet ministers.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr

미 함정 실존 승조원 수색 합류

지난 금요일 밤 원인 불명의 폭발로 초계함이 침몰 실종된 한국 승조원 수색을 돕기 위해 미국은 군함을 서해로 급파했다고 청와대 관리가 일요일 밝혔다.

이 같은 발언은 침몰한 천안호에 승선했던 104명 중 실종된 46명을 구출하기 위해 한국 해군 잠수부들이 강풍 및 험한 파고와 싸우고 있는 가운데 나왔다.

북한의 연루설도 조심스럽게 대두됐으나 청와대와 국방부는 그 같은 시나리오는 적은 것으로 여겼다.

이명박 대통령은 서해 국경에 인접해 있는 백령도 남서방 1.8킬로미터 해상에서 발생한 이 후 네 번 째 안보관계 장관회의를 소집했다.

이 대통령은 “이 사건 관련 한 점의 의혹도 없도록 철저히 조사해 그 결과를 국민에 공개하라”면서 “현 단계에서 가장 중요한 것은 생존자를 더 구조하는 것이며 정부는 승조원들이 더 생존해 있다는 신념으로 더 많은 사람을 구조하기 위해 할 수 있는 노력을 다 하라”고 말했다.

원태재 국방부 대변인은 해군은 수심 24미터의 얕은 해상에 가라앉은 배에 접근하기 위한 노력으로 3,000톤급 구조선 한 척과 수중음파 탐지기가 탑재된 2척의 지뢰제거선을 현장에 급파했다고 밝혔다.

원 대변인은 “강한 파도와 수중의 좋지 않은 시야로 구조 노력에 어려움이 있다”며 “지뢰제거선으 침몰한 배의 위치를 알아내는데 도움이 될 것이라고” 말했다.