By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff reporter
The National Assembly adopted a resolution condemning North Korea for the attack on the 1,200-ton warship Cheonan on May 26 in a vote of 163 to 70 with four abstentions, Tuesday.
The resolution, submitted by the governing Grand National Party (GNP), called on the government to consider both military and non-military options in retaliation to the North for the torpedo attack that killed 46 of 104 crewmembers on board the frigate.
The armed attack is a violation of the Armistice Agreement, inter-Korean accords and the U.N. Charter as these prohibit provocation, it said.
The resolution also demanded that North Korea apologize for the unacceptable act, punish those who were responsible for it, compensate the South for the loss of lives and the ship and promise not to trigger provocations again in the future.
The belated parliamentary resolution came against the backdrop of growing public pressure on the Assembly for partisan politics over the crucial issue involving national security.
Earlier, the U.S. Congress and the European Union adopted a resolution denouncing the North for sinking the warship.
A Seoul-led multinational investigation team, including experts from the United States, Britain, Australia and Sweden, concluded last month that North Korea torpedoed the Cheonan.
The Assembly, meanwhile, rejected a version drafted by the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), which urged the government to make greater efforts to dispel all suspicions surrounding the incident.
On Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama criticized China for turning a blind eye to North Korea's belligerent behavior, saying Beijing should recognize Pyongyang's torpedo attack on the Cheonan.
China has said it disapproves of any act that disrupts peace on the peninsula, but stopped short of directly blaming North Korea for the incident.