South Korean Ship Sinking

cyrusdvirus

Just saw this on the BBC website.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8589507.stm

helimachoptor

If NK has attached and sunk a SK military vessel, things could get real interesting real quick.

cyrusdvirus

Interesting is one word that could be used.

mike65

Also here

A separate South Korean ship has reportedly fired at an unidentified ship sailing away from the area towards North Korea.

Firing at another vessel doesn't seem the smartest move right now.

tricky D

From earlier

A South Korean ship has been sunk in the vicinity of the maritime border with North Korea. While details are sketchy, initial reports suggest that some South Korean naval ships had been involved in combat with an unidentified ship in the area immediately preceding the incident. Other reports suggest that the ship was struck by a torpedo. Yet another indicates a stern explosion.

Tensions between the two Koreas have always been at least moderately high, but previous governments in the South have tended to seek a rapprochement. That warming has cooled significantly in recent months; on result has been occasional naval skirmishes.

There are three issues to keep in mind when evaluating the potential for an inter-Korean conflict. First, the South Korean army, air force and navy are far better equipped and run than the North’s, despite the North’s numerical superiority when it comes to men in uniform. Stratfor has little doubt that the South could ultimately prevail in a military conflict.

But – and this is the second issue – it would come at a massive cost. The North maintains many thousands of artillery emplacements within range of Seoul. So while the South’s military is superior by most measures, the North could quite easily decimate the South’s capital and largest city. Roughly one in four South Koreans live in Seoul.

Third, the South Koreans are not alone. Despite recent shifts in American military posture, the United States still maintains 25,000 troops in South Korea – so an inter-Korean conflict immediately escalates to a global issue.

Just in:

According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, a 1,500-ton naval vessel with a crew of 104 sank off of the island of Baengnyeong in the Yellow Sea on March 26. Based on size and crew displacement it is likely either an Ulsan-class guided missile frigate or a Po Hang-class corvette. The incident took place between 9 and 10 a.m. local time. The cause is unknown, but the BBC has reported that a torpedo was involved. Seoul has said there was an explosion at the stern, and it is investigating whether a torpedo attack from North Korea was the cause, according to YTN TV. The contested waters between North and South Korea do see the occasional naval clashes, but the loss of a surface combatant on this scale would be extremely significant.

“This report is republished with the permission of STRATFOR: www.STRATFOR.com."

cyrusdvirus

So it looks like the ship hit a mine, and Seoul says that the DPRK wasn't involved.

monosharp

mike65 wrote: »

Firing at another vessel doesn't seem the smartest move right now.

Sorry mate but the reality over here is quite different.

Firing shots at eachother, probing eachothers waters and generally pissing each other off is a fairly regular activity in the west sea (off korea). You only hear about it when something serious happens a la someone dying, ship sinking etc.

On the border too you have regular enough shootings across the DMZ, you just don't hear about them.

Tabnabs

A great quote from the BBC news website

Residents of a nearby island, well used to naval and artillery exercises by the rival nations, said they heard an unusually intense burst of naval gunfire for 15 minutes around the time that the ship began to founder after an explosion in its stern.

But sensitive surveillance and satellite data showed there were no North Korean units in the area, leading to speculation that the ship had hit a mine. The defence ministry later said a ship fired at a radar contact that turned out to be birds.

Flocking hell!

cyrusdvirus

A diver is after dying at the wreck site now too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8594226.stm

old hippy

monosharp wrote: »

Sorry mate but the reality over here is quite different.

Firing shots at eachother, probing eachothers waters and generally pissing each other off is a fairly regular activity in the west sea (off korea). You only hear about it when something serious happens a la someone dying, ship sinking etc.

On the border too you have regular enough shootings across the DMZ, you just don't hear about them.

Indeed. There is always a certain amount of sabre rattling going on & Pyongyang promising all manner of nastiness; not only to SK but Japan and the USA. All 3 are it's biggest aid givers, as well... go figure.

When I was at the DMZ, our tour was a wee bit truncated, we had to miss one area, as tensions at the time were running high. I do remember the rather upbeat and emotive film about the Korean war, armistice and creation of the DMZ. And the visit to the pristine railway station that would link the 2 Koreas. I asked the guide if she really felt the 2 Ks would eventually reunite. She was adamant they would. When I'm reading constant stories like this, I do wonder.

tmax

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20100422/twl-human-torpedoes-blamed-for-korea-shi-3fd0ae9.html


Human torpedos to blame (a la Japanese in 1941) according to Sky news

Manic Moran

Sounds more like a' la Italian Chariots more than Kai-Ten. The NKs didn't ride the live warhead, steering to the target.

I'm a little suspect of the claim though.

NTM

cyrusdvirus

So, sections of the torpedo were salvaged from the seabed/wreck site.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/7743830/North-Korea-condemned-by-world-powers-over-torpedo-attack.html

Grim.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/7759124/Tensions-rise-in-Korea-as-Obama-promises-military-support.html

cyrusdvirus

Grim. wrote: »

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/7759124/Tensions-rise-in-Korea-as-Obama-promises-military-support.html

The wreck was raised a couple of weeks ago.
And while the Raptor has some Air to Ground capability to call them a ground attack aircraft isn't exactly accurate imo