In a closed door meeting today South Korean officials informed foreign diplomats that the North did in fact shoot down the Cheonan with a torpedo. Media speculation and reports from the South Korean military have basically stated as much, but the news is now official. Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan also became the first government official to publicly accuse North Korea, saying in a speech that the South Korean warship, the Cheonan, was sunk by “a strong underwater explosion generated by the detonation of a torpedo.”
That torpedo killed 46 South Korean sailors and it will be interesting to see how the government responds. The official announcement will not come until Thursday this week, but it will effectively accuse North Korea of committing its deadliest provocation since the 1987 bombing of a South Korean passenger jet that killed 115 people. It also is bound to escalate tensions between the Koreas and intensify an international debate on how to punish the North.
The North has maintained that they had no involvement in the sinking of the Cheonan, and attempt to link it would draw retaliation. However, the South Korean government will be pushing for strong punishment because it will be a violation of the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War. But key to more punishment would be securing support from China, a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council. China and North Korea have been bartering a strategic friendship and this causes South Korea to ally itself further with the Unites States.
South Koreans will be hesitant to risk a border dispute with the North because it will cause their international credit rating to fall, which means most likely it will fall toward the support of the international community to put the squeeze on.
That torpedo killed 46 South Korean sailors and it will be interesting to see how the government responds. The official announcement will not come until Thursday this week, but it will effectively accuse North Korea of committing its deadliest provocation since the 1987 bombing of a South Korean passenger jet that killed 115 people. It also is bound to escalate tensions between the Koreas and intensify an international debate on how to punish the North.
The North has maintained that they had no involvement in the sinking of the Cheonan, and attempt to link it would draw retaliation. However, the South Korean government will be pushing for strong punishment because it will be a violation of the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War. But key to more punishment would be securing support from China, a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council. China and North Korea have been bartering a strategic friendship and this causes South Korea to ally itself further with the Unites States.
South Koreans will be hesitant to risk a border dispute with the North because it will cause their international credit rating to fall, which means most likely it will fall toward the support of the international community to put the squeeze on.
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