World Naval disaster might affect six-party talks:ROK 2010-Apr-30 06:41:08
SEOUL - The South Korean government said Thursday that a mysterious sinking of its naval warship last month might affect odds for reopening the stalled six-party talks.
"I can't say the incident is directly related to the future of the six-party talks. But now that the state of affairs surrounding the Korean peninsula is affected by the incident, (the government) might need to review future process of the six-party talks in relation to the current situations," Kim Young-sun, Seoul's foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters in a briefing.
His remarks came at a time when speculation runs high of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's hand in the recent sinking of a 1,200-ton corvette, especially after investigators looking into the incident concluded that a powerful external explosion at a close range, possibly caused by a torpedo or sea mine detonation, was the most likely cause of the incident.
The country's defense chief Kim Tae-young also publicly pointed a finger at possible torpedo attacks as a likely culprit.
South Korea's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan previously said that the issue can be brought to the United Nations Security Council anytime once Pyongyang's suspected involvement is confirmed to be true, but the spokesman declined to elaborate.
"If we take any measures as a response after investigation results come out, understanding and support of the international community is essential. So the government has been communicating with other major countries from the initial stage of the incident, "Kim added.