By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has sent a letter of consolation to President Lee Myung-bak over the tragic sinking of a Navy ship that left 46 sailors missing, Cheong Wa Dae officials said Monday.
"I was left in a state of shock and sadness at the news," Ban said.
He expressed his condolences to the families of the missing crew members.
He also called for a swift search and rescue operation for the missing sailors, whose bodies may have been trapped in the hull of the patrol ship, which sank due to an unexplained explosion Friday night.
The mysterious blast, which tore the warship in half, took place near the western maritime border with North Korea, a scene of bloody naval clashes in 1999 and 2002.
Ban, a career diplomat, served as South Korean minister of foreign affairs and trade before taking the post as head of the United Nations in December 2006.