Qualla: ROKS Cheonan Sinking

ROKS Cheonan Sinking: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

At 9:22 p.m. on March 26, 2010, an explosion tore through the stern of the ROKS Cheonan, a South Korean Navy corvette patrolling near Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea. The ship broke in two. The stern settled on its side in 430 feet of water near the point of rupture; the bow section drifted six kilometers before capsizing in shallower water, a small section of hull still visible above the surface. Of the 104 crew members aboard, 58 were rescued. Forty-six sailors died. What caused the explosion has never been settled to everyone's satisfaction, and the disagreement has shaped the politics of the Korean Peninsula for over a decade.

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ROKS Cheonan Sinking: The Waters Between

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Baengnyeong Island sits less than ten miles from the North Korean coast and over a hundred miles from the South Korean mainland, a geographic fact that makes everything about it contested. The island lies south and west of the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime boundary d...

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ROKS Cheonan Sinking: The Investigation and Its Fractures

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

A multinational investigation team -- including experts from South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Sweden -- concluded that the Cheonan was sunk by a North Korean torpedo. The specific weapon was identified as a CHT-02D, a North Korean-manufac...

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ROKS Cheonan Sinking: Doubts and Counterclaims

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Russian Navy submarine and torpedo experts visited South Korea, examined evidence, and took samples home for analysis. No official Russian report was ever published, but leaks to the press suggested their team was not convinced by the torpedo theory. According to the South Korean...

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ROKS Cheonan Sinking: The Aftermath on the Peninsula

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Whatever the cause, the consequences were concrete. South Korea suspended nearly all trade with the North, an embargo estimated to cost Pyongyang roughly $200 million annually. The US and South Korea announced joint naval exercises in response. North Korea denied involvement, war...

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