Investigation Affirms North Korea Attacked South Korean Ship

Bruce Klingner / September 16, 2010

On September 13, 2010, South Korea released an extensive report detailing North Korea’s responsibility for an unprovoked attack on the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan. The 313-page report provides overwhelming, irrefutable evidence that Pyongyang deliberately sank the Cheonan with a torpedo launched from a submarine. Although North Korea’s motives for this act of war remain uncertain, the evidence is beyond doubt.

The report describes in minute detail the results of a five-nation, two-month long investigation. The report uses scientific methods to inextricably link Pyongyang to the egregious attack. The release of the lengthy document, more extensive than a preliminary version revealed on May 20, was necessitated by doubt sowed by swirling conspiracy theories, some of which blamed Seoul or Washington for sinking the South Korean ship. (more…)