South korean ship sinking

Defense Ministry official said later that the unidentified object ship was shot Friday night near the western sea border, which divides the two Koreas may well be a flock of birds.

Initial fears that North Korea could be the culprit causing ripples on Wall Street, with share prices partly related geopolitical concerns, and the South Korean won fell against the dollar.

"It is premature to discuss the cause of this sinking," the presidential Blue House spokesman Kim Eun-Hye told Reuters early on Saturday. "It is not clear whether North Korea was involved."

Joint Chiefs of Staff also said it could not conclude that the reclusive North was behind the attack.

Yonhap news agency quoted a presidential official says satellite images and other data did not show any signs of the North Korean army in a wreck.

The Ministry of Defence said the 58 104 on board had been rescued and Yonhap quoted naval officials said several were killed.

"Unknown September caused a hole in the ship, which led to its sinking. Currently, 58 have been rescued out of a total of 104 on board. Rescue Efforts are currently," the Ministry said.

"The ship fired a warning shot the unidentified object, and was later suspected of being a flock of birds. However, we have to check."

Previously the South Korean media quoted officials saying the North could have torpedoed the ship.

Shortly

The sinking of the North will be so poor become increasingly frustrated in its wealthy neighbor, who has callously recent attempt to re-lucrative tourist business the north side of the Cold War, the last frontier.

Moreover, the same mounting pressure on Pyongyang to stop over-year boycott of international negotiations to end its efforts to build nuclear weapons.

Reports of a possible naval clashes undermine saw was about 0.45 per cent against the dollar and was mentioned by analysts as a reason for drop in U.S. stocks.

Price assure the Korean government debt rose 83 basis points to 78 basis points in the wake of the news, according to two trading days of sources. This means that the cost of 10 million U.S. dollars to convince the South Korean debt increased by $ 5,000 is $ 83,000.

Markets have become accustomed to saber-rattling from North Korea and occasional brief border skirmishes, and swells in response to such incidents are usually quickly reversed.

Seoul, the government held an emergency meeting of security measures after the incident.

The vessel sank off the Yellow Sea near the disputed border off the west coast of the peninsula was the scene of two deadly naval battles between the rival Koreas in the last decade.

The Navy since rival Koreas exchanged gunfire for the first time seven years the waters of Yellow Sea in November, the beginning of damage on both sides.

The international community must put pressure on the North to abandon efforts to build nuclear weapons, promising to help out its economy if it does so.

Has been widespread speculation that North Korea's iron ruler, Kim Jong-il was about to visit China, his only major ally, and he is dependent almost exclusively on financial support after a new conservative government in Seoul ended the free-flow of assistance.