Member for

3 years 11 months
Submitted by ctv_en_4 on Tue, 03/30/2010 - 19:34
President Lee Myung-Bak put the army on full alert on March 30 after a mystery blast sank one of its warships near the tense border with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"Since the incident happened at the frontline, the government should be thoroughly prepared to cope with any movement on the part of North Korea," he told a cabinet meeting in Seoul, according to a presidential statement.

"The armed forces are urged to maintain full alert without the slightest breach," Lee said, before flying by helicopter to Baengnyeong Island near the disputed boundary.

RoK Defence Minister Kim Tae-Young said a drifting DPRK mine dating back to the 1950-53 war might have caused the March 26 blast which tore the 1,200-tonne corvette Cheonan in two. Fifty-eight crewmen have been saved and 46 others remain missing.

Rescuers refused to abandon hope for sailors feared trapped in the stern section of the 88-metre Cheonan, even though divers on March 29 heard no response when they banged on the sunken hull.

"Work is under way in the belief that there could be survivors," military spokesman Lee Ki-Shik said.

Rescuers injected oxygen through a crack into the stern, which rests at a 90 degree angle on the bed of the Yellow Sea. But divers could not find a way inside amid swift currents and cold murky water.

They were trying again the following day to access both sections.
VOVNews/AFP

Add new comment

Đăng ẩn
Tắt