SEOUL, South Korea — A naval mine dispatched from North Korea may have struck the South Korean warship that exploded and sank near the Koreas’ disputed sea border, the defense minister told lawmakers Monday, laying out several scenarios for the maritime disaster.
Defense Minister Kim Tae-Young said there was no sign of a direct attack from rival North Korea, but military authorities have not ruled out North Korean involvement in the sinking of the Cheonan late Friday night.
An explosion ripped the 1,200-ton ship apart during a routine patrol mission near Baengnyeong Island west of the peninsula.
Fifty-eight crew members, including the captain, were plucked to safety; 46 remain missing.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the exact cause would remain unclear until the ship is salvaged after the rescue operation is over. Monday, mothers beat their chests with grief as divers went down to search for survivors, returning to report hearing no sounds inside the underwater wreckage.
Kim, grilled by lawmakers on what happened Friday night, said the ship may have struck a mine left over from the war or deliberately dispatched from the North.
The two Koreas remain in a state of war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953. North Korea disputes the sea border drawn by the United Nations in 1953, and the western waters near the spot where the Cheonan went down have been the site of three bloody skirmishes between North and South.
Many, but not all, of the 3,000 Soviet-made naval mines North Korea planted in the waters off both coasts during the war were removed. Kim noted a North Korean mine was discovered as recently as 1984.
North Korea may also have sent a mine floating south with the current, he said.
Officials have also said an internal malfunction may be to blame. The 1,200-ton Cheonan is designed to carry weapons and was involved in a previous skirmish with North Korea.
U.S. and South Korea military officials said there was no outward indication that North Korea was involved.
