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(6th LD) (Cheonan attack) Seoul vows retaliation after confirming N.K. torpedo sank warship
By Kim Deok-hyun
SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea promised to sternly punish North Korea Thursday after a multinational probe found the communist regime was behind the deadly sinking of its warship Cheonan. Pyongyang's highest office immediately struck back with a strongly worded statement denying any involvement and warning of an "all-out war."
A South Korean-led five-nation team of specialists concluded that a North Korean submarine slipped into southern waters and attacked the 1,200-ton Cheonan with a heavy torpedo on March 26. They cited parts of a North Korean torpedo collected from the scene near the sides' Yellow Sea border and other evidence.
"(We) will take resolute countermeasures against North Korea and make it admit its wrongdoings through strong international cooperation and return to the international community as a responsible member," South Korean President Lee Myung-bak told Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in phone talks, according to Lee's office.
Lee did not elaborate what countermeasures will be taken.
North Korea's National Defense Commission, headed by leader Kim Jong-il, immediately issued a statement accusing the South of "pointing a dirty accusing finger at us like a thief." It called Lee a "traitor" and claimed the investigation was "sheer fabrication."
It is rare for the isolated North to react to an outside development immediately.
"Our army and people will promptly react to any 'punishment' and 'retaliation' and to any 'sanctions' infringing upon our state interests with various forms of tough measures including an all-out war," the statement said.
The North also said that it will send a team of inspectors to verify the South's investigation.
Park Jung-i, a co-director of the South Korean investigation team, said he believes the U.N. Military Armistice Commission should handle the North Korean offer to send a delegation because the sides are technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War.
But Kim Young-sun, spokesman for South Korea's foreign ministry, said in a separate briefing hours later that "related branches" will discuss the North Korean gesture and decide how to respond.
The U.S. and other nations expressed outrage over the North's attack that claimed 46 lives.
"North Korea must understand that belligerence towards its neighbors and defiance of the international community are signs of weakness, not strength," the White House said in a statement. "Such unacceptable behavior only deepens North Korea's isolation."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the probe outcome "deeply troubling."
But China, the North's last-remaining major ally, issued a guarded response, with Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai only saying that the tragedy should be dealt with appropriately to safeguard peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. The diplomat called the sinking "unfortunate" but did not denounce Pyongyang.
Winning support from China is key to South Korea's plan to take the case to the U.N. Security Council to punish the North, as Beijing is a permanent Council member with veto power.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama supported South Korea and said the attack is "unforgivable."
Investigators displayed hard evidence before reporters during a nationally televised press conference, including rusty torpedo parts with two propellers. They also showed the "No. 1" mark on the parts, which officials said is consistent with markings on a stray North Korean torpedo the South recovered seven years ago.
"The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine. There is no other plausible explanation," said university professor Yoon Duk-yong, who co-headed the investigation team.
Investigators also said the torpedo used in the attack is a model named CHT-02D with a net explosive weight of some 250 kilograms. A North Korean "Yeono" class midget submarine is believed to have approached nearby the Cheonan via international waters undetected by the Cheonan's radars before firing the 7.3-meter-long torpedo, they said.
"We confirmed that a few small submarines and a mother ship supporting them left a North Korean naval base in the West Sea 2-3 days prior to the attack and returned to port 2-3 days after the attack," Yoon said.
The underwater explosion occurred about three meters left of the center of the South Korean warship, Yoon said, confirming a so-called "bubble jet effect" theory in which a powerful water pillar was created when the torpedo exploded, sinking the ship.
Vice Adm. Hwang Won-dong admitted that a lax defense system allowed the North's attack.
"Defensive measures against submarines are very difficult and limited," Hwang said. "Once a submarine begins operation, it's very difficult to detect it."
The South Korean military confirmed the North's submarine leaving its base, but an infiltration and the torpedo attack were unexpected, Hwang said.
"We didn't expect the submarine to infiltrate our waters," he said.
Hours after the announcement, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young convened an emergency meeting of about 20 top military chiefs to discuss countermeasures and ways to bolster defense.
"Military and non-military measures" to take in response to the sinking were discussed at the meeting, Deputy Defense Minister Chang Kwang-il told reporters. Chang declined to specify those measures, but said they can be taken "as early as next week, according to government decisions."
Many South Koreans expressed shock and dismay, while some were more concerned about possible repercussions on the already damaged inter-Korean relations.
"How can they do this to their own people?" Han Dong-min, a resident in the central city of Daejeon, asked. "North Korea should first apologize to the victims and their families, and our government should do everything possible to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again."
But Lee Myeong-sook, a housewife in Seoul said, "North Korea is said to be the culprit, but after so many rumors and so few facts that circulated in the past two months, honestly I can't believe it ... North Korea would definitely deny it, and I'm worried this tension might lead to an armed clash."
The investigation's outcome came amid increasingly fierce campaigns for June 2 local elections. The ruling and opposition parties reacted differently to the findings, along ideological and party lines.
The ruling Grand National Party vowed strong retaliation against North Korea, urging opposition members to join its anti-Pyongyang resolution in the parliament.
"Now that North Korea's role has become evident, our nation should become one," GNP chairman Chung Mong-joon said in a party meeting.
But opposition parties attacked the government over its ability to keep the nation safe. Calls for the resignation of the entire Cabinet came from the main opposition Democratic Party and the third-largest Liberty Forward Party.
The Democratic Party challenged the credibility of the government's findings and demanded a separate investigation by the parliament.
Inter-Korean exchanges have hit a snag amid the rising tension. Last week, South Korea stopped funding all government-level exchanges with North Korea and urged hundreds of companies doing business with the communist neighbor not to pursue new ventures.
Anxiety has also grown strong among more than 100 South Korean manufacturing firms operating in the North Korean border town of Kaesong since the sinking. Over 42,000 North Koreans work in the complex, considered the last remaining symbol of reconciliation.
The Cheonan sinking was suspected to be North Korea's retaliation for a naval skirmish in November last year. That month, a North Korean patrol boat opened fire on a South Korean one after crossing the Yellow Sea border, only to retreat in flames. The two sides also traded gunfire along the border in 1999 and 2002.
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