Text Fwd: Final report on Cheonan sinking due this month

Korea Times
Final report on Cheonan sinking due this month
07-07-2010 21:11
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff reporter

A civil-military investigation group that looked into the sinking of the Cheonan corvette in March will publish a final report both in Korean and English later this month, ending its four-month long probe into the disaster, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday.

The group, which included experts from the United States, Britain, Australia and Sweden, released an interim report in May, pointing to North Korea as the culprit behind the ship sinking that claimed the lives of 46 sailors.

The investigation team concluded that a North Korean midget submarine had torpedoed the 1,200-ton Cheonan after sneaking into international waters into the West Sea.

The conclusion, however, is still debated domestically and internationally.

China and Russia, veto-wielding permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, have not expressed their support for the group's findings, hindering efforts by Seoul and Washington to impose tougher sanctions against Pyongyang.

The group earlier cited "decisive evidence," including parts of a North Korean torpedo collected near the site of the incident and the Korean lettering on the propeller of the torpedo.

The final report will contain all records regarding the raising of the wreckage, collecting of evidence, briefing material used at the U.N. headquarters in New York and others, the ministry said.

The report will be released to government ministries and agencies concerned and nations that joined the Cheonan investigation, it said. The publication, however, will not be made public, he added.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr

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