SKorea: Mine from NKorea may have sunk naval ship

[zerox]

Source: Associated Press

BAENGNYEONG ISLAND, South Korea — South Korea's defense minister says North Korea may have intentionally floated a mine to damage a naval ship that exploded and sank this week.

Forty-six crew members are missing and believed trapped within the wreckage of the ship, which went down Friday. Fifty-eight were rescued.

While the cause of the explosion is unknown, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told lawmakers in Seoul on Monday that rival North Korea may have floated a mine toward the ship. He also said the explosion could have been caused by a mine placed during the Korean War.

South Korean officials had earlier said they did not believe the North was behind the explosion.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jQydsIWmNQZpwRriADac51u5rx8gD9EO9ITG0

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They're starting to lay blame on the North now. Not good.

[hack89]

1. Old mines from the Korean war are a real possibility

the moorings rust away and the mines drift with the currents. Same thing happened in the Persian Gulf when Iranian mines broke loose and drifted south.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

2. Those North Koreans must be damn smart!

To aim a mine using ocean currents and expect to hit something as small as a ship? That's good shooting, and excellent knowledge of currents, wave interaction, and the course of the target.

It could be a mine from the fifties, but who knows which side laid that particular mine?

Sounds like a lot of guesswork.

[Old Troop]

5. When I was a kid

I saw a mine from WWII just drifting in Boston harbor. There must be thousands of these things in the oceans of the world. That said, I wouldn't be surprised at anything the North Korean government does. Since we don't know if it was a mine or, if it was, what kind of mine it was we can't say whether the NKs were involved. They have had their clocks cleaned in the last couple of conventional actions with the SKs so they may be trying to do something unconventional.

[dipsydoodle]

3. Well I guess

finding out whether the metal was blown in or out should give them a clue. They exactly know where the ship is - they already banged on the hull to see if there was any repsonse from inside. In the meanwhile any reports are pure conjecture.

[Alcibiades]

4. Ya think?

Could be, but I'd guess it was old ordinance. Those things never die.