We Will Get to Bottom of Tragedy
By Jung Sung-ki, Shim Hyun-chul
Staff Reporters
The nation is mourning the loss of 46 sailors from the March 26 sinking of the Navy frigate Cheonan. The incident, of which the cause has yet to be determined, was the country’s worst naval disaster in peacetime.
After an explosion, the 1,200-ton Cheonan sank in waters off Baengnyeong Island near the disputed sea border with North Korea. Fifty-eight sailors were rescued by coastguard vessels. The bodies of 40 crewmen were found later but six others still remain missing.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Chung Un-chan announced a five-day period of national mourning in tribute to the 46 dead and missing sailors. The government designated April 29 a national day of mourning. The fallen seamen will be posthumously promoted by one rank and be decorated with the Hwarang Cordon of the Order of Military Merit, the country’s fourth highest military medal.
Investigators indicated a massive air bubble caused by a proximity explosion below its hull split the frigate in two, bolstering suspicions that a North Korean torpedo or mine could have been the cause of the disaster.
South and North Korea remain technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a permanent peace treaty.