South Korea Suspects North Korean Torpedo Behind Ship Sinking

South Korea suspects a North Korean torpedo caused the mysterious sinking of one of its navy ships last month, Reuters reported, citing South Korea’s Yonhap News.

The South Korean military points to intelligence gathered in a joint investigation with the United States, marking the strongest accusations yet that North Korea was behind the March 26 incident.

Fifty-eight of the ship’s crew were rescued while the ship was sinking and 38 bodies have been found, most of them last week, when the stern was raised from the water. Eight crew members are still unaccounted for.

Until now, South Korean officials had not openly blamed the North for one of its worst naval disasters, though investigators had said the explosion was most likely external.

Last week, North Korea accused South Korea of spreading false rumors about the incident. North Korean officials have denied involvement in the blast that broke the 1,200-ton Cheonan into two pieces during a routine patrol near the countries’ sea border.

North Korea has suggested that the South seeks to blame North Korea in order to strengthen the ruling party’s position in upcoming local elections and shore up international sanctions against the North. The U.N. Security Council slapped on tough new sanctions on North Korea following its second nuclear test last year.

The divided peninsula remains technically at war, since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.