Z-Koreaans marineschip gezonken; de gevolgen voor de regio

[Lex]

Marineoefening VS en Zuid-Korea begint zondag

WASHINGTON/SEOUL - De Verenigde Staten en Zuid-Korea houden van zondag tot en met woensdag een gezamenlijke legeroefening in de Japanse Zee, ten oosten van het Koreaanse schiereiland. Dat hebben de ministers van Defensie van beide landen dinsdag bekendgemaakt.

Aan de oefening doen ongeveer achtduizend militairen, tweehonderd vliegtuigen en twintig marineschepen mee, waaronder het vliegdekschip USS George Washington. De oefening moet 'een heldere boodschap aan Noord-Korea sturen dat zijn agressieve gedrag moet stoppen', zeiden de ministers van Defensie Robert Gates (VS) en Kim Tae-young (Zuid-Korea) in een gezamenlijke verklaring.

De spanningen tussen de beide Korea's zijn de laatste maanden opgelopen na het zinken van een Zuid-Koreaans marineschip eind maart. Daarbij kwamen 46 militairen om. Volgens Zuid-Korea was de korvet getorpedeerd door het noorden. Noord-Korea ontkent en zegt dat vergeldingsmaatregelen een oorlog kunnen ontketenen.

ANP, AFP, Reuters
20 juli '10, 11:13

[Lex]

Noord-Korea en VN spreken over zinken schip

SEOUL - 
Noord-Korea en het VN-commando dat toezicht houdt op de wapenstilstand op het Koreaanse schiereiland, overleggen dinsdag over de aanval op het Zuid-Koreaanse marineschip Cheonan waarbij eind maart 46 mensen omkwamen. Dat meldde een Zuid-Koreaanse functionaris maandag.

Het wordt de eerste keer dat de Noord-Koreanen het incident gaan bespreken. Pyongyang wilde in eerste instantie alleen overleggen met het Zuid-Koreaanse leger, maar dat weigerde de regering in Seoul. Een internationaal onderzoek heeft uitgewezen dat de Cheonan door een Noord-Koreaanse torpedo tot zinken is gebracht. Pyongyang ontkent dat.

De VN-Veiligheidsraad veroordeelde vrijdag de aanval op de Cheonan. In de verklaring werd Noord-Korea niet expliciet genoemd.

ANP | Gepubliceerd op 12 juli 2010, 11:42

[VandeWiel]

UNITED NATIONS — Diplomats say the U.N. Security Council is set to approve a statement condemning a deadly torpedo attack on a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors, but the declaration stops short of directly blaming North Korea.

The council scheduled a meeting Friday morning where diplomats said the statement will be read.

After more than a month of closed-door discussions, the United States announced Thursday that the five permanent council members — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — as well as South Korea and Japan had reached agreement on the text.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice introduced the draft statement to the 15-member council at a closed meeting late Thursday.
Presidential statements must be approved by the full council and diplomats said there was no opposition, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.

While presidential statements don't have the clout of resolutions, they do become part of the Security Council's record.
A South Korean-led international investigation that included experts from five other nations concluded that a North Korean torpedo sank the the 1,200-ton Cheonan on March 26.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38153443

[Elzenga]

But military investigators quoted by Yonhap news agency admitted Tuesday they mistakenly showed the wrong blueprint at a nationally televised news conference last month.
They were quoted as saying that the blueprint shown at the news conference was of a PT-97W torpedo, not the CHT-02D midget torpedo that sank the Cheonan.
The investigators called the incident a "mistake by a working-level staff member".

Ik mag toch hopen dat dit niet waar blijkt te zijn....niet echt handig in deze hypergevoelige situatie. Zal ook in Zuid-Korea zelf de geruchtenmolen weer versnellen dat het zinken mogelijk een andere oorzaak heeft. Ben benieuwd waar de Russen mee komen in hun eigen onderzoek.

[Lex]

N.Korea warns accident during exercise could start war

SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea warned Tuesday that any accidental clash during an upcoming US-South Korea naval exercise could spark war, as tensions remained high over the sinking of a South Korean warship.
Minju Josun, the cabinet's official daily, accused the South and its US ally of "fabricating" facts about the sinking to incite a war against the communist state.
"It is as clear as day that a small accident that might occur during the joint military exercise would easily spread to an armed clash and eventually, to an all-out war," it said, slamming the planned drill as provocative and dangerous.
The United States and South Korea are planning a special naval exercise as a show of strength in response to the sinking, which they blame on the North. No dates have been announced.
"If the US imperialists, gripped by their pipe dream of invading the North, ignite a new war on the Korean peninsula, our military and the people will wipe out not only the invaders but their strongholds as well and achieve a final triumph," the daily said.
Beijing last week expressed concern at the planned joint exercise, which reportedly will include a nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier battle group in close proximity to China's territorial waters.
China will start six days of live-fire military exercises off its east coast later this week, state press reported Tuesday.
South Korea, citing the findings of a multinational investigation, last month accused its neighbour of sinking the Cheonan corvette near the disputed border in March with the loss of 46 lives.
The South announced its own reprisals and also wants the United Nations Security Council to censure the North. The North has denied involvement and threatened a military response to any UN action.
On Monday it vowed to strengthen its nuclear weaponry in an unspecified "newly developed way" in the face of what it termed US hostility.
The same day Pyongyang's military accused the United States of bringing unspecified heavy weapons into the border truce village of Panmunjom.
It warned of "strong military countermeasures" at the village, a top tourist attraction for visitors from the South, unless they are withdrawn.
The US-led United Nations Command Tuesday denied any heavy weapons had been introduced and said it continues to abide by the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 war.
China has not backed any UN condemnation of the North and has not publicly accused its ally of being behind the warship sinking.
US President Barack Obama, in weekend comments at a G20 meeting in Canada, accused China of turning a blind eye to its ally's actions -- a claim rejected by Beijing.
"We don't favour either side and we decide our position on the merits of the issue. China's position and efforts on this issue brook no accusations," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Tuesday when asked about Obama's comments.
"We don't do anything to fan the flames."
Pyongyang on Tuesday hit back at a communique issued last week by the G8, a grouping of rich countries that does not include China, in which leaders called for "appropriate measures to be taken against those responsible for the attack" on the warship.
In a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, a North Korean spokesman said the G8 was "heading for a cemetery of history as it has been reduced to an evil group blindly conniving and defending its allies, far from taking principle and truth as a standard."
South Korea based its case against the North partly on a section of torpedo salvaged from the bed of the Yellow Sea, where the warship went down. Investigators said this matched blueprints of North Korean torpedoes.
But military investigators quoted by Yonhap news agency admitted Tuesday they mistakenly showed the wrong blueprint at a nationally televised news conference last month.
They were quoted as saying that the blueprint shown at the news conference was of a PT-97W torpedo, not the CHT-02D midget torpedo that sank the Cheonan.
The investigators called the incident a "mistake by a working-level staff member".
The South meanwhile marked the anniversary of a 2002 naval clash near the Yellow Sea border, paying tribute to six of its sailors who died. An estimated 13 North Koreans were killed.
At a ceremony Prime Minister Chung Un-Chan also demanded that the North apologise for the sinking of the Cheonan.

AFP, Tue Jun 29, 1:20 pm ET

[Lex]

White House Says Sinking of South Korean Warship Not Terrorism

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration said Monday that the sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on North Korea was not terrorism, and not enough by itself to put Pyongyang back on a U.S. terror blacklist.

The State Department said the March sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan by a reported torpedo from a North Korean submarine was a "provocative action" and a violation of the truce that ended the Korean war.

But it added that the sinking was the act of one state's military against another and not an act of terrorism. Thus, it is not grounds to put North Korea back on the U.S. "state sponsors of terrorism" list as some in South Korea had wanted, spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

The North had been on the terror list but was removed in 2008 amid progress in the now-stalled effort to get it to abandon nuclear weapons.

The sinking "was a provocative action but one taken by the military of a state against the military of another state," Crowley told reporters. "That in our view does not constitute and act of international terrorism."

However, he stressed that the administration was continually reviewing North Korean behavior to determine if other factors would lead to its redesignation as a state sponsor of terrorism.

"We will not hesitate to take action if we have information that North Korea has repeatedly provided support for acts of terrorism," Crowley said.

An international investigation concluded last month that North Korea torpedoed the vessel near the tense Korean sea border, killing 46 South Korean sailors. North Korea flatly denies the allegation and has warned any punishment would trigger war.

Earlier Monday, North Korea threatened to bolster its nuclear capability in a new -- though unspecified -- way to cope with what it says is a hostile U.S. policy and military threats amid tensions over the sinking.

Associated Press
June 28, 2010

[Lex]

Zo zie je maar, hoe gespannen de situatie is. Het is wel te hopen dat men net erg "triggerhappy" is.

[Elzenga]

Ballonnen aangezien voor invasie
Seoul -  De spanningen tussen Noord- en Zuid-Korea zijn de laatste weken wat opgelopen. Zelfs ballonnen opgelaten door kinderen veroorzaakten daarom paniek donderdag, omdat ze aan werden gezien voor Noord-Koreaanse parachutisten.

Een inwoner van het dorp Ansan, even ten zuidwesten van Seoul, had tussen de veertig en vijftig objecten aan een parachute naar beneden zien komen, dacht hij. Zijn melding bracht het Zuid-Koreaanse leger en politie in de hoogste staat van paraatheid: was de Noord-Koreaanse invasie begonnen?

Na enig onderzoek bleek het te gaan om ballonnen die opgelaten waren door kinderen van een kleuterschool in de buurt.

Twee weken geleden zorgde een achtergelaten duikerspak langs de kust eveneens voor paniek. Ook toen bleek er niks aan de hand te zijn.

Op 26 maart werd een Zuid-Koreaans marineschip getorpedeerd waarbij 46 doden vielen. Het Zuiden beschuldigd het Noorden van deze actie. Sindsdien zijn de onderlinge spanningen nog heviger dan ze al waren.
http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/6988213/__Ballonnen_aangezien_voor_invasie__.html?sn=binnenland,buitenland

[Elzenga]

Ik lees dat in Juli de Russen met hun rapport en conclusies komen nadat Russische experts op uitnodiging van Zuid-Korea het wrak en de bewijzen hebben bekeken en materiaal hebben meegekregen voor nader onderzoek. Volgens bronnen zouden de Russen in een eerste indruk niet vinden dat de bewijzen ondubbelzinnig op Noord-Koreaanse schuld wijzen. Ook de Chinezen zijn sceptisch en wachten het Russische onderzoek af. Ondertussen gaan beide landen verder met diplomatieke stappen om verdere escalatie te voorkomen.

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15210803&PageNum=0
http://en.beta.rian.ru/russia/20100616/159452668.html
http://en.beta.rian.ru/russia/20100609/159363305.html

[Lex]

U.S. Envoy In S.Korea For Talks On Warship Sinking

SEOUL - A senior U.S. envoy arrived in Seoul on Wednesday for talks on the sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on North Korea that has inflamed tensions on the peninsula.
Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell flew in a day after Washington branded North Korea a "criminal state" over its threats of reprisals if it is censured by the U.N. Security Council over the warship sinking in March.
Campbell was due to meet South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Wi Sung-Lac, later Wednesday before holding talks with other top officials on Thursday, the Yonhap news agency reported.
"The Cheonan issue will be a main topic," a foreign ministry official was quoted as saying.
South Korea has already imposed a slew of reprisals against North Korea, including the suspension of trade, over the sinking of the Cheonan which went down near their disputed Yellow Sea border with the loss of 46 sailors.
A multinational investigation last month said the blast which tore the corvette in two was caused by a North Korean torpedo, but Pyongyang has strongly denied any involvement.
North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations warned Tuesday that Pyongyang would take military action if the council condemns the reclusive communist regime over the sinking.
"That sounds like the same kind of provocative behavior that has characterized North Korea unfortunately since early 2009," U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters Tuesday.
"What we need from North Korea is accountability," Crowley said. "We're looking for North Korea to change its unacceptable behavior - to cease belligerent actions."
President Obama also on Tuesday renewed unilateral U.S. sanctions on North Korea left by his predecessor George W. Bush, citing the continuing threat from Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.
The Cheonan sinking has halted efforts to revive six-nation talks on North Korean disarmament which were suspended when Pyongyang walked out in April last year and then staged its second nuclear test.
The U.N. Security Council on Monday warned both Koreas against escalating regional tension after hearing briefings by both sides on the Cheonan incident, the deadliest peacetime naval disaster for South Korea.
Pyongyang has fired off a barrage of threats since the findings of the multinational probe were revealed last month, warning of all-out war on the peninsula and boasting it could turn Seoul "into a sea of flame".
Seoul is seeking a U.N. censure of Pyongyang but China and Russia - two veto-wielding council members and key backers of the North - have voiced reservations about the findings of the multinational warship probe.
The two Koreas have remained technically at war since their three-year conflict which began on June 25, 1950 was ended only by an armistice three years later.
Sixty years on, South Korea's navy plans to re-enact a Korean War sea battle to mark the anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict.
Seoul said earlier Wednesday that the South Korean and U.S. navies had agreed to cooperate more closely on monitoring North Korean submarines and bolster intelligence sharing.
The South Korean military has been criticized over the Cheonan sinking, because of prior warnings of possible attacks by the North's submarines near the disputed sea border.

Agence France-Presse
Published: 16 Jun 2010 13:14

[Lex]

North Korea rejects torpedo findings, threatens war

North Korea rejected Tuesday international findings that it sank a South Korean ship, warning at the United Nations that the dispute could lead to war.

"A war may break out any time," Ambassador Sin Son Ho said, accusing South Korea of "fabricating" the results of the investigation into the sinking of the Cheonan.

The loss of the ship and 46 sailors in March raised tensions on the Korean peninsula.

North and South Korea presented their cases to the U.N. Monday, and South Korea then urged the Security Council to take "timely and appropriate measures."

North Korea's envoy responded harshly Tuesday.

"If the Security Council releases any documents against us, condemning or pressuring us... then myself as diplomat, I can do nothing... the follow-up measures will be carried out by our military forces," he said.

United Nations Security Council President Claude Heller said Monday that the U.N. body is "gravely concerned" about the latest tensions.

Heller said the council is concerned over the potential "impact on peace and stability on the Korean peninsula" as a result of the March 26 sinking of the Cheonan in disputed waters.

"We presented and explained to (the council) the evidence that the Cheonan was sunk by a torpedo, which was made in North Korea, and launching was also done by a North Korean ... submarine," said Yoon Duk-yong, a science and physics professor serving as a civilian expert on the South Korean panel.

Yoon said the findings were based on evidence recovered after the sinking, including an intact piece of the torpedo with propellers, steering plates and a motor.

"We hope that on the basis of these findings," he said, "the Security Council will take timely and appropriate measures against the provocation of North Korea against the naval ship of the Republic of Korea."

But North Korea's ambassador disputed the international findings, comparing them to "some kind of fiction in Aesop's Fables.

"The 'investigation result' is a complete fabrication from A to Z," he said.

The council is calling on both sides "to refrain from any act that could escalate tensions in the region," Heller said.

The two-hour meeting was held behind closed doors Monday afternoon and was also attended by United States, Australian, British, Swedish and Canadian scientific experts who had participated in the investigation.

The Japanese ambassador to the U.N. made brief remarks following the two nations' presentations, saying "there is no other explanation" than that the South Korean ship was sunk by a North Korean torpedo.

"I think the council should react in a decisive manner, but at the same time try to avoid any act which may provoke" a retaliatory attack, Ambassador Yukio Takasu said.

North Korea has repeatedly denied any responsibility in the sinking.

Heller said a decision has not yet been made on how to respond to the incident.

"The Security Council will continue its consultations," he said.

CNN Breaking News

June 15th, 2010
01:16 PM ET

[Elzenga]

Ik heb nergens kunnen lezen dat de groep eenheden waartoe Cheonan behoorde ook deelnam aan de ASW oefening.

Ik heb die bevestiging ook nog niet kunnen vinden. Wel dat de oefening nog aan de gang was en Amerikaanse schepen die er aan deelnamen op verzoek van de Zuid-Koreanen hulp boden bij de reddingsoperatie en voor de luchtverdediging zorgden.
o.a. deze bron http://www.naval-technology.com/news/news86311.html
Ook is er veel te doen in complot-theoriekringen over de aanwezigheid van de USNS Salvor in de omgeving en mogelijke inzet van mijnen.

[Lex]

Tja, dan rijst bij mij de vraag of die maatregelen wel iets hadden uitgemaakt.

Ik lees (erg zwart/wit denkend) dat men a/b ROKS Cheonan niet de vereiste graad van gereedheid heeft ingenomen.
Daarnaast/daardoor blijven nog vele vragen onbeantwoord.

Uit alle berichten lijkt het of men totaal verrast werd en de beschikbare apparatuur niet voldoende was...men nota bene een ASW oefening hield met de Amerikanen...als ik de berichtgeving goed begreep.

Ik heb nergens kunnen lezen dat de groep eenheden waartoe Cheonan behoorde ook deelnam aan de ASW oefening.

[Elzenga]

Tja, dan rijst bij mij de vraag of die maatregelen wel iets hadden uitgemaakt. Uit alle berichten lijkt het of men totaal verrast werd en de beschikbare apparatuur niet voldoende was...men nota bene een ASW oefening hield met de Amerikanen...als ik de berichtgeving goed begreep.

[Lex]

Report: South Korea's top military officer offers to retire amid criticism over ship sinking

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's top military officer offered to retire Sunday amid criticism over alleged negligence ahead of the deadly sinking of a warship blamed on North Korea, a news report said.

Gen. Lee Sang-eui, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, submitted his application for retirement to Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, Yonhap news agency reported, citing a statement by Lee.

The report came three days after South Korea's top audit agency told Kim to punish Lee and 24 other senior defense officials for failing to ensure combat readiness ahead of the March 26 sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan.

"I feel deeply responsible for the Cheonan incident," Lee was quoted as saying by Yonhap.

Calls to the Defense Ministry and the Joint Chiefs of Staff were not immediately answered late Sunday.

A team of South Korean and international investigators concluded last month that a torpedo from a North Korean submarine tore apart and sank the vessel off South Korea's west coast, killing 46 sailors. North Korea flatly denies it was behind the sinking and has warned any punishment would trigger war.

On Thursday, South Korea's Board of Audit and Inspection found fault with the military for failing to prevent the sinking.

The audit body said the military had expected that a North Korean submarine or submersible vessel could secretly attack a South Korean ship following a sea skirmish between the two sides in the area in November.

However, the navy and the Joint Chiefs of Staff did not take appropriate countermeasures and neglected combat readiness, audit agency official Park Soo-won said.

South Korea has taken a slew of punitive measures against North Korea, including curtailing trade and resuming propaganda operations. It also has asked the U.N. Security Council to punish the North.

The two Koreas are still technically at war because their 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Associated Press
June 13, 2010