Seoul Could Take Sunken Ship to UNSC

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Fri, December 8, 2023 | 08:26

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Seoul Could Take Sunken Ship to UNSC

Posted : 2010-04-18 18:17

Updated : 2010-04-18 18:17

By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Yu Myung-hwan said Sunday that South Korea could take the sinking of the naval ship Cheonan to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) if North Korea was found to have been involved in the incident.

Asked what kind of diplomatic measures South Korea could consider, Yu said "war-related" affairs were the jurisdiction of the council and therefore Seoul would have to abide by its ruling.

He made the remarks on television, a day after North Korea denied involvement in the incident that left 38 sailors dead and eight others missing.

Yu said what was also important was to strengthen the combined ROK-U.S. defense posture.

"We will also seek bilateral cooperation with the European Union and Japan, allies that share similar views," Yu said.

North Korea has a record of denying provocative acts that it turned out later to have committed, and accordingly its latest claim that it had nothing to do with the sinking of the Cheonan is hard to believe, observers said Sunday.

The reclusive nation used to show a typical pattern in its response to such events, including the 1983 bombing in Rangoon, which killed 17 Koreans and four Burmese, and the 1987 downing of KAL Flight 858, which killed all 115 on board.

The bomb in Rangoon narrowly missed killing then-President Chun Doo-hwan. Two North Korean agents involved in the bombing were captured by Burmese authorities.

North Korea also has not accepted responsibility for the 1987 aircraft bombing. The communist state accused South Korea, Japan, the U.S. and Bahrain, where North Korean agents involved in the attack were detained, for creating a "false drama" to frame North Korea.

Regarding the ship sinking that occurred in the West Sea on March 26, the North had remained quiet on the matter. Of 104 crew, 58 were rescued soon after the 1,200-ton frigate started to sink.

In response to allegations of its involvement, Pyongyang claimed the South fabricated what happened in order to turn the tide in domestic politics.

In a statement released by its military Saturday, the North claimed it had nothing to do with the ship sinking, accusing the South of lying as to the cause of the disaster.

It said that warmongers and conservative politicians in the South were playing the security card ahead of the June 2 local elections to gain support.

The statement was the first official reaction from the North, 22 days after the frigate sank near the western maritime border with North Korea.

Seo Jae-pyoung, secretary general of the Seoul-based non-profit group North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity, told The Korea Times that the maritime disaster was a case in which the North would never confess to the crime it had committed.

"The state-controlled media in the North reported on the second West Sea battle in 2002 that killed six South Korean Marines and wounded 19, calling it a victory," he said.

Seo, a North Korean defector, said the sinking of the Cheonan was not something the North can admit to publicly as it would suffer enormous consequences later.

In its nature, he argued that the maritime tragedy is closer to the North Korean agents' bombing of KAL Flight 858 in 1987.

A multinational investigation team began looking into the cause of the disaster last week, and the investigation is still under way.

By looking at the shape of the damage to the separated stern, experts said an external explosion seemed likely to have caused the sinking.

'함정 침몰 사건 안보리에'

유명환 외교장관은 일요일 함정 침몰 사건에 북한이 연루된게 밝혀지면 유엔 안전보장 이사회에 이 문제를 가져갈 수 있을 것이라고 밝혔다.

어떤 외교적 조치를 취할 수 있느냐는 질문에 유장관은 "전쟁 관련" 사항은 안보리 관할이라며 한국정부는 이의 결정에 따를 것이라고 말했다.

북한이 38명의 승조원이 사망하고 8명이 실종 상태인 함정 침몰 사건에 연루성을 부인하고 난 하루 만에 유장관은 TV에서 이 같은 발언을 했다.

유장관은 중요한 것은 한-미 방위 공조를 강화하는 일이라고 말했다.

그는 "유럽 연합 및 일본 등 유사한 견해를 가진 우방국들과도 양자 협력도 모색할 것"이라고 말했다.

leeth@koreatimes.co.kr