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S. Korean newspaper exonerates North over torpedo
Published: 29 July, 2010, 18:29
Edited: 31 July, 2010, 04:23
Workers using a giant offshore crane salvages portion of the sunken South Korean naval ship Cheonan off Baengnyeong Island, South Korea, April 15, 2010. (Image from armybase.us)
(7.7Mb) embed videoTAGS: Conflict, Military, Asia, Politics, North Korea
A South Korean newspaper claims Russian investigators have found North Korea did not torpedo one of the South's warships that sank in spring. The report says the vessel hit a mine.
Russia has not yet commented on the story.
The "Cheonan" sank off the Korean peninsula in March, with the loss of 46 sailors.
Earlier, a US-backed international investigation found Pyongyang responsible. However, Pavel Leshakov, the director of Korean studies at the Moscow State University, says the conclusion is “almost 100 per cent political.”
Russia sent its own team of investigators to the region last month.
North Korea has continuously denied any links to the incident.
The incident has made the tense situation on the divided peninsula even worse. But it could potentially develop to become even uglier, says investigative journalist Wayne Madsen.
“This is very critical, because if there is a smoking gun – this could have been a set-up, this was some sort of accident made look like hostile action or it was some sort of false flag attack, this could result in war against a nuclear armed-country, North Korea,” Madsen asserts.
Canadian foreign policy analyst Stephen Gowans says war in the region “could be possible, however we can also look at this as an on-going programme of the United States and South Korea to impose enormous military pressure on North Korea with the goal of seeing it collapse.”
Pyotr Razvin from the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, believes despite the high tension, the chances of an actual war are limited.
"Both North and South Korea see the perspective of a war as mutually assured destruction. If a conflict were to erupt, the Korean peninsula would be economically devastated. Besides, neighbouring China has no interest in a war on its borders either, be it a nuclear or not."
Dr. Jae-Jung Suh of the Korea Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC argued that the report presented by the international investigation faulting North Korea may have errors.
Suh’s report casts doubt on North Korea's guilt and the use of a torpedo, arguing that the evidence does not prove North Korea nor a torpedo were at fault.
“We do not argue that the North Koreans did not do it. What we are arguing is that the joint investigative group of the South Korean government has failed to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the North Korean torpedo hit the ship and sunk it,” said Suh.
He argued that the biggest inconsistency is the white power found on the ship by the investigative group; he argued that it did not result from an explosion. Lab experiments and analysis have replicated the chemical process, showing that the powder was rust from water exposure over time, aluminum hydroxide, not a result of the explosion.
29.07.2010, 13:36
2 comments
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6. I take this honor of hereby formally asking the folks in Norway to consider awarding a Nobel Peace Prize to the "Supposedly less so enlightened" Korean people including myself, who in early days, among various activities, proposed the "outside" world contact initiative for the Cheonan peace, providing email addresses of all the foreign embassies in Korea, U.N., Hillary, Obama, and the foreign media.
3. A list of early English publications on Questions on the Cheonan Incident and the Power of South Korean Netizens can be found at http://korea.true.ws (by LetsTry Reason). Also, look at: "Five reasons why the the JIG's 5-page statement cannot be considered scientific and objective, nor ... 'international'" http://japanfocus.org/-JOHN-MCGLYNN/3372 ; http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/pcc-772-cheonan-south-korean-government-admits-the-deception-and-then-lies-about-it/ ; http://nature.com/news/2010/080710/full/news.2010.343.html ; http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-korea-torpedo-20100724,0,4196801,full.story 4. Compare and contrast. 9/11; Al-Qaeda; brags We did it(, was not wrong, not sorry about it and we will do it again). Cheonan; North Korea; brags We didn't do it (therefore, presumably, was wrong, sorry about it and we will not do it). (Why the difference?) Crime and punishment. If we are taking consequentialist moral philosophy, and if the utilitarian utility of punishment is to prevent future crime, then punishment serves little or no purpose (maybe to others but not)to North Korea who says 'We didn't do it,' because either (a) the North didn't do it, therefore the punishment will be outrageous injustice, or (b) the North did do it, but 'We didn't do it' basically implies 'We will not do it.' (This particular 'it' hardly gives the North any payoff.) 5. Representative democracy is not pure democracy. (Pure)Direct democracy of a nation-size is now (or becoming) possible, through recent developments in computer science and technology, making secure private Internet-voting, democratic online discussions, cheap instantaneous micro referendum and freedom of choice to vote directly on an issue or use an agent possible. The science (computer science) should finally make the people, the governed, the actual de facto governor in democracy.
Only the top brass in USA who are financing Wars, (George Soros and Rochefeller), will benefit from a War in the Korean Peninsula and they have paid the investigators to suit their purposes.