R/C Naval Combat

April 6 - The top American commander here said Tuesday that he has yet to find any clear link between North Korea and the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship in the West Sea on March 26.

South Korea's spy chief made similar remarks. Won Se-hoon, director of the National Intelligence Service, said that it was difficult to conclude that North Korea was involved in the incident.

...

"If the North had really been involved, navy commanders or intelligence officials could not have directed such an operation," Won was quoted as saying. "Without approval from Chairman Kim Jong-il of the National Defense Commission, no one (in the North) can undertake that kind of project."

Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), said that a joint investigative team involving South Korean and U.S. experts would determine the cause of the incident.

NK Involvement in Ship Sinking Doubted (Korea Times)

April 7 - South Korean sailors who escaped a warship which sank last month have said they felt a large "external blast" before the ship went down.

South Korea sailors describe mystery ship blast (BBC News)

An interesting opinion piece: The Cheonan Cover Up (Asia Times)

April 15 - South Korea on Thursday lifted the stern of a naval ship that sank after an unexplained explosion near a contested sea border with North Korea to see if Pyongyang may have had a hand in the incident that killed dozens.

South Korea raises war ship, seeks clues on blast (Reuters)

 

April 16 - An external explosion most likely sank a South Korean navy ship that split apart three weeks ago, an investigator said Friday, amid concerns about possible North Korea involvement in the disaster.

...

"There is a high possibility of an external explosion rather than an internal explosion," chief investigator Yoon Duk-yong told reporters Friday. He said further analysis is needed to determine the exact cause of the blast, after salvaging the ship's other wreckage.

SKorea says external explosion likely sank ship (AP)

April 21 - South Korea's military believes a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine sank its navy ship last month, based on intelligence gathered jointly with the United States, a news report said on Thursday.
 

North Korea torpedoed South's navy ship: report (Reuters)
 

April 23 - South Korea on Saturday raised the front half of a warship that exploded and sank near a contested sea border with North Korea a month ago, seeking clues to confirm growing suspicions that Pyongyang attacked the vessel.

...

We are seeing that the front half of the ship has a similar 'c-shaped cut' as was found on the already raised stern," an unnamed military official told local media, adding that a full scale-inspection had yet to be conducted.

A survey team that includes experts from South Korea, the United States and Australia said after the rear of the ship was raised the Cheonan had been destroyed by an external explosion. That stoked suspicions of the torpedo attack in waters where the rival Koreas have had two deadly naval fights in the past decade.

South Korea raises warship, looking for link to North (Reuters)
 

SEOUL, South Korea, May 19 – South Korea accused North Korea on Thursday of firing a torpedo that sank a naval warship in March, killing 46 sailors in the country's worst military disaster since the Korean War.

President Lee Myung-bak vowed "stern action" for the provocation following the release of long-awaited results from a multinational investigation into the incident. North Korea, reacting swiftly, called the results a fabrication and warned that any retaliation would trigger war.

Investigators said evidence overwhelmingly proves North Korea fired a homing torpedo that caused a massive underwater blast that tore the Cheonan into two on March 26. ...

NKorea warns of war if punished for ship sinking (AP)