By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter
The military will work to pull the sunken hull from Sunday as families of the missing sailors from the Cheonan requested to halt the search and rescue operation on Saturday, the ninth day since the accident.
The families said they reached the decision in consideration of the life-threatening conditions that divers have to face and the low chances of the sailors remaining alive.
"We requested the military to stop the search and rescue operation from tomorrow," Lee Jeong-guk, the president of the Union of Families of Missing Sailors said in a news conference at the 2nd Navy Fleet headquarters in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.
"We have made the decision on fears that more lives will be lost in the dangerous underwater operation, in which divers have to put their lives on the line."
Last Tuesday, Han Joo-ho, the Navy warrant officer died after experiencing decompression sickness.
Despite the tragic death, the Navy's Ship Salvage Unit continued their task, recovering the body of a Navy sailor who was one of the 46 missing crew members from the stern section of the ill-fated warship, Saturday.
The body of senior Chief Petty Officer Nam Ki-hoon was found dead at around 6:10 p.m. inside a cafeteria of the 1,200-ton frigate Cheonan, the Navy said.
Of the Cheonan's 104-member crew, 46 went missing after the ship was split in two, following an explained explosion in waters 1.8 kilometers southwest of Baengyeong Island in the West Sea.
The 56 sailors were pulled out to safety after the sinking, while the search for the missing 45 continues.
The cause of the sinking has yet to be determined, but Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said the more-likely cause of the Cheonan's tragic sinking would be a torpedo attack rather than an underwater mine.
A 2,200-ton floating crane will be used to lift the ship from the sea bottom in the West Sea.
Some suspect North Korea was involved in the incident as it took place near the disputed inter-Korean sea border, which was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002.
The incident comes amid increased tension between the two Koreas, which technically remain at war since the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
leeth@koreatimes.co.kr
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