For a North Korean dissident, Pyongyang sank the Cheonan
The 1,200-tonne Cheonan was blown apart by an explosion on 26 March 26 as it conducted a routine patrolling mission in South Korea’s western waters near the tense maritime border with North Korea. Fifty-eight sailors were rescued, but at least 38 died and eight are still missing.
None of the survivors has been able to explain what caused the blast. Experts believe it could have been caused by a torpedo, an engine room explosion or an underwater mine.
In a tearful speech to the nation, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak vowed on Monday to deal “resolutely and unwaveringly” with the outcome of the investigation. “I, as president, will find out the cause of the Cheonan's sinking in full and in detail”. Addressing the victims, he said, “Your fatherland, which you loved, will never forget you."
South Korea has not blamed the Communist North for the incident. For its part, North Korea broke weeks of silence on Sunday to deny involvement. However, North Korea’s Stalinist regime has a past of maritime aggressions against the South, most recently in November.
According to Choi, the soldiers who took part in the sinking were publicly treated as national heroes in North Korea.
The two Korean states are still formally at war with one another. They fought a bitter three-year civil war that ended in 1953 with the division of the peninsula. Since then, they have not signed a peace treaty.
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