Military Diver Dies in Search for Sailors

46 Missing Crew Yet to Be Found

By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

A Korean military diver died Tuesday after falling unconscious while searching for sailors, who went missing after a Navy ship sank in the western waters Friday night.

Han Joon-ho, 53, a warrant officer, passed out around 3:20 p.m. due to the strong underwater pressure and currents when he was trying to enter the bow of the frigate Cheonan, according to the Ministry of National Defense.

Han from the Navy's Ship Salvage Unit (SSU) was immediately moved to a nearby U.S. rescue ship but pronounced dead, a ministry spokesman said.

Another SSU diver was also hospitalized after falling unconscious, the spokesman said.

The death of Han occurred amid all-out efforts by the military to locate the 46 missing sailors, as their families cling to the hope that their sons will be found alive in watertight cabins.

Military divers struggled to open holes in each half of the bisected hull of the sunken Chenonan in desperate efforts to find the sailors believed to be trapped inside the wreckage.

Late Monday, divers succeeded in putting air into the stern of the ship, where most of the missing crew are believed to have been trapped since the 1,200-ton ship sank near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto sea border with North Korea, in the West Sea (Yellow Sea) after a mysterious explosion, the ministry said.

The ministry released an 80-second video image taken right after the incident occurred in waters 1.8 kilometers south of Baengnyeong Island.

The image was recorded by a thermal observation device (TOD) set up on Baengnyeong, the country's northernmost island, ministry officials said.

It shows some crewmen waiting for rescue on the capsized bow, while two patrol boats approach the scene to help.

Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae said fierce waves and strong underwater currents hampered efforts to drill a hole in the stern located about 50 meters from the site of the explosion and about 40 meters underwater.

Families of 46 sailors missing since their ship sank Friday night were clinging to the hope that they will be found alive in watertight cabins. Fifty-eight sailors were rescued in the hours after the sinking.

No bodies have been retrieved, raising the families' hopes that the remaining crew members might have survived.

The cause of the incident, one of the country's worst maritime disasters, has stirred up controversy.

On Monday, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told lawmakers that he didn't rule out the possibility of the ship having been struck by an old North Korean mine that drifted south.

Kim went on to say that the South Korean Navy has found such mines before, some of which date back to the 1950-53 Korean War.

He said South Korea hasn't placed mines in the maritime border area.

Some lawmakers and defense experts cautiously raised the possibility of a North Korean torpedo attack.

Initially, the Navy said a patrol ship, after the Cheonan sank, fired at an unidentified object. The service said later that the object was found to be a flock of birds.

But the defense ministry admitted Monday that a North Korean spy plane had approached the NLL hours after the incident, triggering speculation that the North might have been involved in the deadly incident.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr

실종 승조원들 아직 못 찾아

군 잠수 요원들은 선체에 갇혀있는 수 십 명의 승조원들을 찾아내기 위한 필사적인 노력으로 30일 두 동강 난 채 침몰한 초계함 천안호 양쪽에 구멍을 뚫으려 안간 힘을 다했다.

국방부는 전날 오후 잠수 요원들이 46명이 갇혀있는 선미에 공기를 주입하는 데 성공했다고 밝혔다. 1,200 톤 급인 천안호는 원인 불명의 폭발로 북한과의 접경 인근 수역에서 침몰했다.

국방부는 백령도 남쪽 1.8킬로미터 수역에서 침몰 시 상황과 해군의 대응을 보여줄 지도 모르는 사고 당시의 영상을 확보했다고 원태재 대변인이 밝혔다. 이 영상은 우리나라 서해 최북단의 백령도 초소에 설치된 열영상관측장비 (TOD)에 녹화된 것이다.

1분 20초 분량의 이 영상은 일부 승조원들이 가라앉고 있는 선수 끝에서 구조대를 기다리고 있는 한편 두 척의 경비선이 구조를 위해 사고 해역에 접근하는 모습을 보여주고 있다.

원대변인은 사나운 파고와 강한 해류로 폭발지점에서 50미터 떨어진 40미터 수심에 있는 선수에 구멍을 뚫지 못했다고 밝혔다. 실종된 수병 46명의 가족들은 꽉 닫힌 선실에 수병들이 살아있을 수도 있다는 한 가닥 희망을 갖고 있다. 나머지 58명은 침몰 후 한 두 시간 만에 구조됐다.

인양된 사체가 한 구도 없어 남은 승조원들이 생존해 있을 지 모른다는 가족들의 희망을 불러일으켰다.

국내 최대 해군 재난 중 하나인 이 사고의 원인이 무엇인 지에 대서는 논란이 계속되고 있다.