The sinking of a South Korean ship last month was caused by a torpedo from a North Korean submarine, military officials said.
The intelligence report was submitted directly to the office of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, an unnamed military official told the Yonhap news agency on Thursday.
“It’s our military intelligence’s assessment that North Korean submarines attacked the ship with a heavy torpedo,” the source said, adding that the subs were armed with torpedoes with 200 kg (440 pound) warheads.
“Since February last year, North Korea has strengthened training that showed the possibility of it launching a guerrilla warfare-style provocation, rather than a skirmish,” said the source.
The report puts Lee—a president who has won political capital for his tough stance on the North—in a difficult position.
So far, Seoul has stopped short of accusing the communist North of involvement in the sinking of the 1,200-ton Cheonan, in which at least 39 people were killed. It has blamed the loss on an “external explosion.”
Pyongyang has denied involvement.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper claimed that the attack came not from a torpedo but from a manned suicide submarine, which one official described as a “human torpedo.”
“Military authorities detected several signs showing that the North was preparing for revenge for its defeat in the sea skirmish in November last year,” an unnamed government official was quoted as telling the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.
“The North intensively trained military units for various means of attack, in particular human torpedoes,” said the source.
President Lee won plaudits early in his tenure for his tough stance on the North, compared to previous liberal politicians who have played down any potential dispute out of fear it could escalate into a military conflict.
“If they fire two bullets at us, we will fire three or four back,” an unnamed government official told The Times of London last year. “If they fire on us from a shore battery, we will take it out.”
Hwang Jang Yop, a former senior North Korean politician who defected 13 years ago, warned on Thursday of the South being drawn into a conflict with Pyongyang. “It’s obvious that Kim Jong Il did it,” he said in an interview published on Thursday.
“We already know Kim Jong Il has been preparing for this kind of incident. ... [But] if we retaliate, the peninsula will turn into a dirty war zone like the Palestinian territories. We must not be drawn into their scheme.”
The intelligence report was submitted directly to the office of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, an unnamed military official told the Yonhap news agency on Thursday.
“It’s our military intelligence’s assessment that North Korean submarines attacked the ship with a heavy torpedo,” the source said, adding that the subs were armed with torpedoes with 200 kg (440 pound) warheads.
“Since February last year, North Korea has strengthened training that showed the possibility of it launching a guerrilla warfare-style provocation, rather than a skirmish,” said the source.
The report puts Lee—a president who has won political capital for his tough stance on the North—in a difficult position.
So far, Seoul has stopped short of accusing the communist North of involvement in the sinking of the 1,200-ton Cheonan, in which at least 39 people were killed. It has blamed the loss on an “external explosion.”
Pyongyang has denied involvement.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper claimed that the attack came not from a torpedo but from a manned suicide submarine, which one official described as a “human torpedo.”
“Military authorities detected several signs showing that the North was preparing for revenge for its defeat in the sea skirmish in November last year,” an unnamed government official was quoted as telling the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.
“The North intensively trained military units for various means of attack, in particular human torpedoes,” said the source.
President Lee won plaudits early in his tenure for his tough stance on the North, compared to previous liberal politicians who have played down any potential dispute out of fear it could escalate into a military conflict.
“If they fire two bullets at us, we will fire three or four back,” an unnamed government official told The Times of London last year. “If they fire on us from a shore battery, we will take it out.”
Hwang Jang Yop, a former senior North Korean politician who defected 13 years ago, warned on Thursday of the South being drawn into a conflict with Pyongyang. “It’s obvious that Kim Jong Il did it,” he said in an interview published on Thursday.
“We already know Kim Jong Il has been preparing for this kind of incident. ... [But] if we retaliate, the peninsula will turn into a dirty war zone like the Palestinian territories. We must not be drawn into their scheme.”
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