On Tuesday, South Korea's president ordered the military on alert for any moves by North Korea after the explosion that sank a South Korean ship. The explosion ripped Cheonan, the ship that was patrolling around Baengnyeong Island not far from the North Korean border. This incident caused many crew members to go missing in the sea. 58 crew members were rescued to safety, but there are still 46 more crew members that are missing. The prospects for their survivial is not clear. South Korea's president Lee Myung-bak visited the wreckage sites to review search operations, meet with marines and console family members. Currently, military officials said that the exact cause of the explosion is unknown because there was no evidence of North Korean involvement. Defense Minister Kim Tae-young stated that a floating mine dispatched from North Korea could be a scenario for the disaster. He also stated that North Korea could have intentionally set up underwater mines to inflict damage on South Korea. President Lee told marines to stay on alert in case of North Korea's military movement.I personally think that North Korea did not intentionally float underwater mines to inflict damage on South Korea because I don't see any benefit from damaging South Korea. I think that North Korea was just afraid South Korea might attack them from the West. I know for sure that South Korea will not launch an attack at North Korea, but I think North Korea is just being to protective and worry too much for an attack. The underwater mines would have mistakenly set up too close to the border, or some could have floated across the border. I do believe that South Korea should warn North Korea that in the future things like this should not happen because it was so catastrophic to ignore. However, I do not think South Korea should take a physical action against North Korea because it could result in a much bigger disaster.
