tagged w/ cheonan
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Defense Ministry: South Korea starts live-fire drill
By the CNN Wire Staff
December 20, 2010 12:51 a.m. EST
South Korea's planned live-fire military exercises have started, according to the country's ministry of defense.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Residents on five islands are told to take cover
* North Korea says the drill could ignite a war
* No agreement is reached in the Security Council, Russia and the United States say
(CNN) --
South Korea's planned live-fire military exercises started Monday afternoon, the country's ministry of defense said.
North Korea has said the drill could ignite a war and has promised to respond militarily, but has also agreed to a series of actions after former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson urged the North to not take an aggressive response.
On Sunday, South Korea ordered thousands to find shelter in preparation for the drill while the United Nations' Security Council wrangled over growing tensions in the Korean peninsula.
An approximate 8,000 residents were ordered to take cover in Yeonpyeong, Baengnyeong, Daecheong, Socheong and Udo in the hours leading up to the drill.
North Korea said over the weekend that the planned exercises were designed to violate the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953 and "ignite war at any cost."
At the United Nations, nearly eight hours of emergency Security Council talks on the standoff ended Sunday without a unified statement.
CNN's Kyung Lah and Jiyeon Lee in Seoul Richard Roth and Whitney Hurst at the United Nations contributed to this report.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/12/19/north.korea.tensions/index.html?hpt=T1
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http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/12/19/north.korea.tensions/index.html?hpt=T1
South Korea says exercises to start Monday
By the CNN Wire Staff
December 19, 2010 6:48 p.m. EST
South Korean marines carry supplies on Yeonpyeong Island on Sunday, December 19.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* NEW: South Korea says the controversial drills are to begin Monday
* The U.N. Security Council held emergency talks on the issue in New York
* The North says the drill could ignite a war
* North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong Island in November, killing four
(CNN) -- South Korea's planned live-fire military exercises in the Yellow Sea will begin Monday despite threats from North Korea that the drills will result in "disaster," the South Korean military announced.
The drills are slated to take place off Yeonpyeong Island, which North Korean forces shelled in November. North Korea said over the weekend that the planned exercises were a "sinister design" to violate the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953 and "ignite war at any cost."
At the United Nations, diplomats were huddled in an emergency meeting of the Security Council in an attempt to defuse the standoff over the planned exercises. But seven hours of ongoing talks had produced no result Sunday evening.
Russia requested the emergency meeting and proposed a draft statement, proposing amendments which Western nations said would place more of the blame on North Korea, diplomats said. But they said the major holdout was China, the North's closest ally, which refuses to agree on any statement that even mentions the Yeonpyeong shelling.
Russia and China, both permanent Security Council members, have asked South Korea to reconsider its planned drills. Sunday's closed-door session was held with representatives of both North and South Korea present and speaking.
Earlier, a South Korean military official told the country's state-run Yonhap news agency that Seoul would not be deterred by threats from the North.
"The planned firing drill is part of the usual exercises conducted by our troops based on Yeonpyeong Island. The drill can be justifiable, as it will occur within our territorial waters," the official said.
Tensions between the two Koreas have been high since the North fired upon the island last month, killing two marines and two civilians. The South Korean military had said Thursday that the exercises would take place in the seas southwest of the island between December 18 and 21, but adverse weather forced a delay Saturday.
"We won't take into consideration North Korean threats and diplomatic situations before holding the live-fire drill. If weather permits, it will be held as scheduled," the military official said.
Meanwhile, North Korea was beefing up its military forces on its west coast ahead of the South's planned drills, Yonhap reported, citing a South Korean government official.
"The North Korean artillery unit along the Yellow Sea has raised its preparedness level," the source said.
Yeonpyeong is located in the Yellow Sea, just south of the Northern Limit Line -- the maritime boundary drawn in 1953 by the United Nations just after the Korean War. The line is three nautical miles from the North Korean coast.
In the absence of a full peace agreement between the two Koreas, the Northern Limit Line remains in place. North Korea has suggested an alternative line, but South Korea has resisted, as it would bring the North's maritime boundary close to Incheon, a main port.
A North Korean spokesman over the weekend said that the planned military exercises were a "sinister design" to violate the Korea Armistice Agreement and "ignite war at any cost."
"The shelling to be perpetrated by the puppet forces of south Korea at last, trespassing on the prohibiting line would make it impossible to prevent the situation on the Korean Peninsula from exploding and escape its ensuing disaster," the spokesman said, according to North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency.
North Korea blamed the United States for allegedly egging on the South Koreans.
North Korea "will force the U.S. to pay dearly for all the worst situations prevailing on the peninsula and its ensuing consequences," the spokesman said.
CNN's Jiyeon Lee in Seoul and Richard Roth and Whitney Hurst at the United Nations contributed to this report.Defense Ministry: South Korea starts live-fire drill
By the CNN Wire Staff
December... more
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This is a highlight video from the following event. For full event audio and video please visit http://csis.org/event/chinas-role-post-cheonan-korean-peninsula
The events surrounding the sinking of the Cheonan by a North Korean torpedo have put into stark relief China's dilemma in maintaining an equidistance policy between the two Koreas. As part of the CSIS "China Policy Gap" project, the Office of the Korea Chair invites you to join in a discussion, which will examine the complexitites faced by Beijing as it tries to craft its future role on the Peninsula. Leading the discussion will be noted experts and scholars:
* Dr. Thomas Christensen, Professor of Politics, Princeton University and Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Chinese and Mongolian Affairs (more)
* Dr. Seongho Sheen, Visiting Fellow, East-West Center in Washington and Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of International Studies at Seoul National University (more)
* Dr. Victor Cha, Senior Adviser and Korea Chair, CSIS, Director of Asian Studies, Georgetown University, and Former Director of Asian Affairs, National Security Council (more)This is a highlight video from the following event. For full event audio and video... more
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CSIS
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1 year ago
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This is a great objective report on the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan--no fluff, just a fact-based intel report on the ship's history, the incident, rescue/salvage efforts, and a little backgrounder.
The above is a picture of the corvette itself.
http://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/detail.asp?ship_id=ROKS-Cheonan-PCC772This is a great objective report on the sinking of the ROKS Cheonan--no fluff, just a... more
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"(Reuters) - The United Nations Command (UNC) has launched an investigation into whether North Korea violated the Korean War armistice by sinking one of the South's naval ships, the U.N. body said on Saturday.North Korea denounced the probe as a "bogus mechanism."
On Thursday, the South announced the results of an investigation which concluded a North Korean submarine had in March fired a torpedo that sank the Cheonan corvette, killing 46 sailors.
The UNC said in a statement it had convened a special team to review the findings of the investigation and to "determine the scope of the armistice violation" that occurred with the sinking of the Cheonan.
The team, which includes 11 countries -- Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, Sweden and Switzerland -- would report their findings to the United Nations, it added.
North Korea has denied the sinking accusation and said it is ready to tear up all agreements with the South, with which it remains technically at war under a truce that ended fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War."
North Korea has also made threats towards the Southern part of the Peninsula. Threatening war should any sanctions be put into place against the DPRK (North Korea)
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64L1AG20100522"(Reuters) - The United Nations Command (UNC) has launched an investigation into... more
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An investigation, conducted by US, Australian, British, Swedish and South Korean experts, concluded that the South Korean Naval warship, the Cheonan, was sunk by a North Korean torpedo, shot from a submarine.
Forty-six sailors were killed when the Cheonan sunk on March 26.An investigation, conducted by US, Australian, British, Swedish and South Korean... more
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Part of a South Korean naval vessel surfaced from the water on Monday, April 12 after about three weeks since the ship sank amid high waves and strong wind hampering the salvaging process. Main armaments, rapid fire-guns and missile launching ramp were shown on the surface of the water as the rare salvaged part of the ship was lifted by a crane ship.
South Korea's military said they would complete the salvaging process this week.
The Cheonan sank off the west coast of the peninsula near the disputed Yellow Sea border with North Korea last month, March 26.The South Korean Defence Ministry said 58 of the 104 people on board the vessel were rescued before the ship snapped in half and sank.Part of a South Korean naval vessel surfaced from the water on Monday, April 12 after... more
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