Navy ship sinks in West Sea after explosion

A Navy patrol boat with 104 crew members on board sank near the western maritime border with North Korea after an explosion on Friday, the Joint Chief of Staff said.
The 1,200-ton Cheonan began to sink around 9:45 p.m. off Baengnyeong Island in the West Sea. There was an explosion in the rear of the ship, Lee Ki-shik, a senior intelligence operation official of the JCS said.
President Lee Myung-bak called an emergency security ministers’ meeting at 10 p.m.
Fifty-eight sailors had been rescued, the JCS official said.
The disputed border was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002.
The JCS said there was a possibility that the explosion was caused by an attack from North Korea or the boat’s own explosives.
“We do not know the cause of the incident, so we cannot clearly say the sinking was caused by North Korea,” Rear Admiral Lee told reporters.
A South Korean vessel fired warning shots toward the North around the time of the incident after its radar detected a suspicious object, he said. It was believed to be a flock of birds, he added.

Earlier in the day, North Korean forces conducted artillery firing drills in the area, according to military sources.
North Korea`s military also threatened South Korea and the United States with “unprecedented nuclear strikes" in response to a report that the two countries preparing for a contigency in the communist regime.
Immediately after the incident, the Navy sent helicopters and ships to the scene to rescue the crew of the Cheonan.
The JCS said there were no unusual military movements on the North Korean side.
President Lee ordered the military to focus efforts on rescuing the sailors.
"President Lee ordered the military to do its best to rescue the soldiers," the president was quoted as saying during the three-hour emergency meeting by presidential spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye.
"For now, it is not certain whether North Korea is related" to the incident, she added.
The president will convene the meeting again in the morning, she said.
Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, Senior Presidential Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Security Kim Sung-hwan, National Intelligence Service Director Won Sei-hoon and other top officials attended the meeting.
The incident occurred near the Northern Limit Line, a disputed maritime border off the west coast.
North Korea which does not recognize the NLL and has been taking measures aimed at nullifying the de-facto maritime border drawn up by the U.N. Command at the end of the Korean War in 1953.
In June 1999, at least 17 South Korean and tens of North Korean sailors were killed in a naval firefight in the western sea border. In June 2002, six South Korean sailors and an estimated 13 North Koreans were killed in a clash and one South Korean frigate sank.
Last November, the navies of the two sides exchanged fire in the area. A North Korean patrol boat had retreated in flames but its casualties were unknown. No South Koreans were hurt.