Lee calls for quick investigation into cause of warship sinking

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with the president's latest comments, schedule change,
other details)
By Lee Chi-dong

SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak ordered a "quick and
thorough" investigation Saturday into what caused a South Korean warship to sink,
keeping in mind "all possibilities," his office said.
The presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, also said that there has been no "special
move" by North Korea so far despite initial media reports that the communist
neighbor might be to blame for the incident that happened Friday night near the
disputed western sea border between the two Koreas. The Navy said the 1,200-ton
vessel foundered due to a hole caused by an explosion in the rear of the ship.
The exact reason for the explosion was not confirmed.
"President Lee ordered (the military) to find the truth (behind the incident)
quickly and thoroughly," saying the government should leave all possibilities
open, Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye told reporters during an emergency
meeting that was underway at the underground bunker of Cheong Wa Dae.
Lee reiterated the urgency of rescuing the sailors, as 46 of the 104 crewmen on
board were still missing.
"The military should make all-out efforts to rescue as many survivors as
possible," Lee was quoted as saying.
The president also instructed his government to update the other members of the
six-way nuclear talks and political parties here with the development of the
related situation, Kim added.
The six-party talks aimed at ending the North Korean nuclear crisis also involve
the U.S., China, Russia, and Japan.
The two Koreas are technically in a state of war after their three-year war ended
in a ceasefire, not a formal peace treaty, in 1953.
Tensions have run high in the waters close to the Northern Limit Line, which
serves as an inter-Korean maritime border, but is unacknowledged by the North. A
series of naval skirmishes took place there in 1999, 2002, and 2009.
Meanwhile, the South Korean president called off his plan to meet with a group of
children selected as reporters for Cheong Wa Dae's Internet news.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)

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