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| China-Japan-Koreas | ||
| U.S. sees need for U.N. action on sinking of Cheonan | ||
| 2010-05-03 | ||
SEOUL, May 2 (Yonhap) -- The United States agrees with Seoul's move to take the sinking of a South Korean warship to the U.N. Security Council even if an ongoing investigation into the case does not provide any hard evidence proving who is responsible, an informed diplomatic source here said Sunday.
The 1,200-ton warship Cheonan sank March 26 near the tense border with North Korea in the Yellow Sea, leaving 40 of the ship's 104 crew members dead and six others missing. Investigators have said an "external, non-contact" explosion likely cause the sinking, letting loose a flood of suspicion over North Korea's possible involvement. The diplomatic source said investigators have yet to find any "definitive" evidence on who is responsible, but that evidence secured so far may be enough to prove who it is. "All evidence points to a torpedo. The question is who is it, but there are not too many likely candidates there," the source said. The source noted the joint investigation into the sinking may very well end with only "ambiguous" or circumstantial evidences, but said that will only make it harder, not impossible, to prosecute who is responsible. "If it's an ambiguous outcome, it makes it a more diplomatically and militarily difficult challenge ... But the Security Council is not a U.S. code of law. It is not an ROK code of law. The security council makes political judgments," the source said, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea. Winning the support of China and Russia, both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council that have veto power, is considered important in persuading the Security Council to take any meaningful action on the Cheonan sinking, as the countries maintain very close relationships with Pyongyang.
The Cheonan tragedy is an issue of not only regional security, but also maritime security, the source said. The source also said the U.S., at least for now, will likely refuse to hold any dialogue with North Korea for the resumption of six-way negotiations aimed at denuclearizing the communist nation, though it continues to urge Pyongyang to recommit itself to its denuclearization efforts. The source said there are other measures South Korea and the U.S. will take in regard to the Cheonan tragedy. "The U.S. military, especially the navy, is prepared to work with the ROK navy to make sure their ships up there (near the border with North Korea in the Yellow Sea) don't have such things happen to them," the source said. | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 Since the peace that ended Korean war was all done under the UN auspices what would happen if the UN said the treaty is now null. Not that they would say that but still. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2010-05-03 17:03 |
| #1 ION CHINESE MIL FORUM > PLAN EAST SEAS FLEET [Mission(s) scope]MOVES BEYOND THE FIRST ISLAND CHAIN. ARTIC > By MID-21st CENTURY [2050 + near beyond], CHINA hopes to have its PLAN modernized and oper able to conduct ROUTINE DEPLOYMENTS/ MISSIONS BEYOND SECOND ISLAND CHAIN + IN MOST OF PACIFIC + INDIAN OCEANS. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-05-03 00:22 |