S.Korea military on alert after warship sinking

South Korean Navy Ship Salvage Unit members launch rubber boats to search for possible survivors and bodies from a sunken Patrol Combat Corvette PCC-772 Chonan, off Baengnyeong island. South Korea said Wednesday it has ordered all government officials to stay on emergency alert until the crisis sparked by the mysterious sinking of the warship is resolved. (AFP/Kim Jae-Hwan)

BAENGNYEONG ISLAND, South Korea (AFP) – South Korea said Wednesday it has ordered all government officials to stay on emergency alert until the crisis sparked by the mysterious sinking of a warship is resolved.

The officials have been told not to take leave and to stay alert even while off-duty in case of emergencies, the home ministry said, reiterating an instruction first issued Saturday.

The 655,000-strong military and the police force was also ordered on heightened readiness after an unexplained blast tore a 1,200-tonne corvette in two Friday night near the tense border with North Korea in the Yellow Sea.

A huge search for 46 missing sailors, which has claimed the life of one naval rescue diver, was suspended Wednesday due to stormy seas.

The military officially refuses to abandon hope but officers said privately there was no chance anyone could still be alive in watertight compartments inside the sunken hull.

Seoul has not cited any evidence the North was involved, although the defence minister has said a North Korean mine — either drifting or deliberately placed — might have caused the disaster.

The disputed border was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002 and of a firefight last November.

Navy chief Kim Sung-Chan has said the ship’s munitions storage room did not appear to have exploded and “the ship was broken in two because of powerful outside pressure or an (exterior) explosion”.

Dong-A Ilbo newspaper said US and South Korean intelligence had satellite photos showing submersible craft moving in and out of a west coast base at Sagot in North Korea before and after the sinking.

“North Korean submersible or semi-submersible craft often disappear and return, and it is difficult to link it to the incident in a decisive manner,” it quoted a Seoul government source as saying.

The defence ministry said it could not comment on the report.

A total of 58 people were rescued from the bow section of the 88-metre (290-foot) ship soon after the sinking.

Hopes of finding more survivors faded Monday when divers heard no response after banging on the two sections of the sunken hull off Baengnyeong island. But angry and tearful relatives have been demanding swifter rescue action.

Dozens of divers have braved the Yellow Sea’s strong currents and frigid and murky waters, trying in vain to get inside the hull. One of them, father of two Han Joo-Ho, fell unconscious Tuesday and later died.

Defence ministry spokesman Won Tae-Jae said waves Wednesday were up to 2.5 metres high and winds and currents were strong.

He said divers have managed to open some hatches but have not penetrated inside the hull. It was hoped work would resume later in the day. — AFP