S.Korea issues Cheonan report

A South Korean man who left behind his relatives in North Korea wipes away tears Monday as he applies for an inter-Korean family reunion program at the Red Cross office in Seoul. Photo: AFP

By Wang Zhaokun

South Korea Monday released a full report of an investigation into the sinking of a warship that claimed the lives of 46 South Korean soldiers, reaffirming its previous conclusion that a North Korean submarine sank the corvette with a torpedo.

The Cheonan patrol ship was blown into two pieces March 26 near the tense inter-Korean border. A team composed of 73 investigators from South Korea, the US, Sweden, Australia and Britain reached a conclusion in May that a North Korean submarine attacked the warship, but Pyongyang has vehemently denied the allegation.

The full report contains more details of the explosion and explains how investigators reached their conclusion, according to a report by South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

"The detonation location was three meters to the port from the center of the gas turbine room and at a depth of six to nine meters," the report says. "The weapon system used was a CHT-02D torpedo with approximately 250 kilograms of explosives manufactured by North Korea."

"We hope that this report will serve as the basis for accurately understanding the truth regarding the sinking of the Cheonan," said Yoon Duk-yong, co-chairman of the joint international investigation team.

Also Monday, Stephen Bosworth, the US special representative for North Korea policy, expressed optimism in Seoul about further engagement with North Korea for talks of Pyongyang's nuclear program.

Bosworth arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a three-day visit to discuss the possibility of the resumption of the Six-Party Talks. He will head to Japan and China later this week to further discuss the issue.

Cai Jian, vice director at the Center for Korean Studies at Fudan University, said that Bosworth's remarks are a positive signal sent by the US government to North Korea, because Washington has been asking Pyongyang to make some promises before restarting the nuclear talks.

"But the Six-Party Talks are still unlikely to resume in the near term," Cai said. "The US will need further consultations with Japan and South Korea. Besides, issues surrounding the sinking of the Cheonan warship remain unsolved."

Agencies contributed to this story