By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
The sinking of the 1,200-ton South Korean naval ship, Cheonan, near the inter-Korean maritime border Friday night has drawn keen attention from the international community with most focusing on whether North Korea had any involvement.
The U.S. State Department said hours after the tragedy it had no evidence indicating North Korea's involvement.
``Let's not jump to conclusions here,'' State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. ``I'm not aware of any evidence to that effect. But I think the authoritative source here would be the South Korean government.''
South Korean media initially suspected a North Korean attack as the site of sinking has been the scene of three bloody skirmishes between the navies of the two countries in 1999, 2002 and 2009.
Stock markets around the world fell sharply following reports of possible North Korean involvement, but recovered afterwards.
Defense officials here said Sunday it would be virtually impossible to find the exact cause of the tragedy until an inspection of the sunken ship is carried out. Salvage operations are being hampered by strong waves and low visibility in the water.
A U.S. military ship will join South Korea Monday to search for missing sailors and help salvage the sunken ship, a source from Cheong Wa Dae said.
The Chinese government has not released any official comment on the sinking, but its state-run media reported that it could have a negative impact on the six-party talks as well as the relations between South and North Korea.
``The tragedy took place at a very sensitive time,' the Broadcasting Corporation of China said citing an expert on North Korea. ``The two Koreas as well as the other countries involved in the six-party talks should remain cool-headed and strengthen communications to resolve the case quickly.''
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama sent a letter of condolence for South Koreans to President Lee Myung-bak Sunday, Lee's spokesman Park Sun-kyoo said.
``Hatoyama expressed hope that Korea's rescue operations will be successful and offered his condolences to the families of the victims,'' Park told reporters.
The incident occurred in sensitive waters near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), where North Korea has set no-sail zones in recent months, firing hundreds of artillery shells to heighten tension.
North Korea has long tried to defy the NLL, the de-facto sea border drawn up by the United Nations Command after the 1950-1953 Korean War, demanding the line be drawn farther south.
The sinking came as the international community is trying to persuade the North to come back to the six-party talks on ending its nuclear ambitions, which Pyongyang has boycotted over U.N. sanctions for its nuclear and missile tests last year.