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(2nd LD) No objections from U.N. Security Council members on sunken ship probe: official
By Chang Jae-soon
SEOUL/NEW YORK, June 15 (Yonhap) -- U.N. Security Council members raised no objections on the outcome of an international probe that found North Korea responsible for the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship, an official said Tuesday.
Experts from South Korea and five other nations briefed the 15 Council member nations Monday (New York Time) on their findings that the North sank the warship Cheonan on March 26. The briefing at the U.N. headquarters was part of Seoul's efforts to censure Pyongyang for the ship attack that killed 46 sailors. | | Data picture |
South Korea referred the case to the Council earlier this month.
"No countries made remarks denying the investigation outcome," a South Korean official in Seoul said on condition of anonymity. "The overall atmosphere was that they appeared to be giving a nod. It deepened Security Council members' understanding (of the case) and I think it will be helpful in moving discussions forward."
In New York, Yoon Duk-yong, a renowned scientist who headed the investigation, told reporters after the briefing that his team offered sufficient explanations and Council members "appeared to understand a lot."
Yoon, a top South Korean university professor, said his team also urged the Council to respond appropriately to North Korea's provocations. He said questions from Council members focused mostly on technical matters, but declined to elaborate.
The two-hour briefing began with opening remarks by the Council's rotating president, Mexico's Claude Heller, and South Korea's U.N. ambassador Park In-kook. That was followed by the screening of a video showing North Korean torpedo parts being pulled out of the site of the sinking, and a question and answer session, officials in New York said.
France and the United States expressed support for the investigation results and called for a strong punishment of the North. But China and Russia, the North's traditional backers, neither voiced support for the probe nor asked any questions, they said.
After the South Korean briefing, North Korean officials, including Pyongyang's U.N. Ambassador Shin Son-ho, also held an hour-long session with the Council members and repeated their denial of any involvement in the sinking, the official in Seoul said.
North Korea has long denied any responsibility, accusing Seoul of fabricating the investigation.
Amb. Pak Dok-hun, deputy chief of North Korea's mission at the U.N., also told reporters in New York that his mission will hold a press conference Tuesday. "We are a victim of this incident," he said. "We have nothing to do with this incident."
South Korea also plans to hold a similar briefing session for about 20 to 30 non-Security Council member nations at its U.N. mission in New York on Tuesday, the official in Seoul said. He also said that Seoul hopes the Council will hold a formal meeting on the case before the end of this week at the latest.
The South Korean-led investigation concluded last month that a North Korean submarine secretly infiltrated the southern waters near their tense western sea border and attacked the Cheonan with a heavy torpedo. Investigators have presented such hard evidence as North Korean torpedo parts collected from the scene.
Seoul has since taken steps to punish the North, including bringing the case to the Council for a rebuke of the North, cutting off trade with the impoverished nation and banning North Korean commercial ships from passing through South Korean waters.
The fate of South Korea's push for a rebuke of the North at the Council hinges on Beijing and Moscow. The two nations, which hold veto power at the 15-member Council, have expressed reservations about the findings of the investigation.
South Korean officials have said they were not seeking any new U.N. sanctions against the North that has already been under an array of sanctions for its nuclear and missile tests. Officials have said that they want a stern Council condemnation and warning against the North.
The North has warned of an "all-out war" if it is punished or sanctioned for the sinking.
On Saturday, the communist regime threatened that its armed forces "will launch an all-out military strike" to blow up propaganda loudspeaker facilities the South has installed along the heavily armed border and turn Seoul into a "sea of flame."
jschang@yna.co.kr
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