Was the sinking of the South Korean Warship a False Flag?

So many times we hear or read about conspiracy theories or false flag operations whereby the CIA, Mossad or other secret service operatives create an incident and then conveniently point the finger at a country or organisation with whom that have a bone of contention.

I actually have a special interest in this particular incident having spent much time working with submarines both operationally and also whilst working onboard a torpedo recovery vessel (TRV). During my time in the navy I also worked on minesweepers and so got to understand all aspects of underwater warfare. One certainly has to keep an open mind on the sinking of the Cheonan as several methods could have been used.

The possibilities are endless ranging from torpedoes, to limpet mines to many other types of mines – Acoustic Mines – Magnetic Mines and Contact Mines all of which can either be moored to the ocean floor or just sit on the bottom. Some mines can actually release a homing torpedo when an enemy vessels approaches.

One should also keep in mind that there are also options as to how this incident occurred that resulted in yet another “False Flag” incident hyped up by the US. It could have been a friendly fire incident or an intentional act by using an ally torpedo or a moored mine both of which have the ability to split the ship in two.

Maybe many of you are convinced and happy to accept the South Korean version of this event but you must all fully understand those that carried out the inquiry were all allies of South Korea and no independent analysis was ever carried out. I therefore hope that when you have read this article you may be totally convinced or maybe have some doubt in your mind as to the true facts behind this incident.

One must fully understand that this particular area is a very sophisticated training ground for Anti Submarine Warfare (ASW) and accordingly would be extremely well protected against any intrusion by other vessel and or submarines. It is also important to keep in mind that this same area is also carefully monitored by China and Russia who have some very sophisticated equipment and apparatus to watch over every aspect of the Korean Peninsular.
The sinking of the South Korean Corvette Cheonan took place on the evening of March the 26th 2010 at 2122 local time in total darkness. The location was just offshore on the southwest corner of Baengnyeong Island which sits very close to the border with North Korea. The island is a hub for the South Korean military and is also a very active area for war games with many other nations, especially the United States Navy which I will explain below.

Baengnyeong Island is a Secret Joint US-South Korean Naval Base for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations. The surrounding waters are relatively void of any civilian vessels making it a perfect location for a multitude of naval exercises. What is more important is the solitude and silence in its waters making it a good location to install sonar listening devices which one normally associated with areas used for submarine training and anti submarine training. One could also assume that it would also be a good location for mine laying and mine sweeping activities as well as regular exercise in submarine hunting by both surface craft and submarines. Add to this both surface and subsea training by the US Navy Seals

It is very important to fully understand that this location would be very heavy protected by Land Sea and Air. The lack of en route traffic would also make it a perfect listening ground for approaching vessels, submarines or any other craft as well as any weapons that were release by a submarine such as a torpedo or underwater launched missile. The joint US-South Korean naval base is staffed by American and South Korean naval special operation force personnel and accordingly uses extremely sophisticated weapons and apparatus.

Obviously one would first ask the question that if the US and South Korean Navy monitor the North Korean Navy at all times and knew that certain vessels had left their base how is it possible for any vessel to sneak into a highly protected zone undetected. In this case it was in relatively shallow water and well within the sonar listening zone. One should also remember that the local US Naval Commander himself declared that there was no North Korean activity in the area.

Let’s just read some comments from experts who know this area extremely well and who also believe this was certainly a “False Flag” as I do:

The March attack on the South Korean Navy anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette, the Cheonan, was a false flag attack designed to appear as coming from North Korea.

One of the main purposes for increasing tensions on the Korean peninsula was to apply pressure on Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to reverse course on moving the U.S. Marine Corps base off Okinawa. Hatoyama has admitted that the tensions over the sinking of the Cheonan played a large part in his decision to allow the U.S. Marines to remain on Okinawa.

The Cheonan was sunk near Baengnyeong Island, a westernmost spot that is far from the South Korean coast, but opposite the North Korean coast. The island is heavily militarized and within artillery fire range of North Korean coastal defenses, which lie across a narrow channel.

The Cheonan, an ASW corvette, was decked out with state-of-the-art sonar, plus it was operating in waters with extensive hydrophone sonar arrays and acoustic underwater sensors. There is no South Korean sonar or audio evidence of a torpedo, submarine or mini-sub in the area. Since there is next to no shipping in the channel, the sea was silent at the time of the sinking.

However, Baengnyeong Island hosts a joint US-South Korea military intelligence base and the US Navy SEALS operate out of the base. In addition, four U.S. Navy ships were in the area, part of the joint U.S-South Korean Exercise Foal Eagle, during the sinking of the Cheonan. Investigations of the suspect torpedo’s metallic and chemical fingerprints show it to be of German manufacture. There are suspicions that the US Navy SEALS maintains a sampling of European torpedoes for sake of plausible deniability for false flag attacks.

Germany does not sell torpedoes to North Korea, however, Germany does maintain a close joint submarine and submarine weapons development program with Israel and as we know these submarines passed through the Suez Canal some time ago. The Republic of Korea Navy also just happens to operates type 214 submarines, also built and exported from Germany. These submarines use 533mm DM2A3 torpedoes that have a striking resemblance to the parts that were recovered from the sea bed in the vicinity of the Cheonan sinking.

The presence of the USNS Salvor, one of the participants in Foal Eagle, so close to Baengnyeong Island during the sinking of the South Korean corvette also raises questions. The Salvor, a civilian Navy salvage ship, which participated in mine laying activities for the Thai Marines in the Gulf of Thailand in 2006, was present near the time of the blast with a complement of 12 deep sea divers.

Beijing, satisfied with North Korea's Kim Jong Il's claim of innocence after a hurried train trip from Pyongyang to Beijing, suspects the U.S. Navy's role in the Cheonan's sinking, with particular suspicion on the role of the Salvor. The suspicions are as follows:

1. The Salvor engaged in a seabed mine-installation operation, in other words, attaching horizontally fired anti-submarine mines on the sea floor in the channel.

2. The Salvor was doing routine inspection and maintenance on seabed mines, and put them into an electronic active mode (hair trigger release) as part of the inspection program.

3. A SEALS diver attached a magnetic mine to the Cheonan, as part of a covert program aimed at influencing public opinion in South Korea, Japan and China.

The Korean peninsula tensions have conveniently overshadowed all other agenda items on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visits to Beijing and Seoul.

What is also remarkable about the sinking of the Cheonan was the fact that the Director of the South Korean National Intelligence – Won See-hoon told the South Korean Parliamentary Committee in early April, less that two weeks after the incident that there was no evidence linking North Korea to the sinking.

South Korea’s Minister of Defence Kim Tae-young also backed him up by saying that the crew of the stricken corvette had not detected a torpedo.

It was also interesting to learn that the Head of the Marine Operations Office at the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed that “No North Korean Warships have been detected in the waters where the accident took place.”

Defense Ministry officials added that they had not detected any North Korean submarines in the area at the time of the incident

When speculation persisted that the Cheonan had been sunk by a North Korean torpedo, the Defense Ministry called another press conference to reiterate “there was no unusual North Korean activities detected at the time of the disaster.”

A ministry spokesman, Won Tae-jae, told reporters that “With regard to this case, no particular activities by North Korean submarines or semi-submarines…have been verified. I am saying again that there were no activities that could be directly linked to” the Cheonan’s sinking.

Rear Admiral Lee, the head of the marine operations office, added that, “We closely watched the movement of the North’s vessels, including submarines and semi-submersibles, at the time of the sinking. But military did not detect any North Korean submarines near the country’s western sea border.”

So, a North Korean submarine is now said to have fired a torpedo which sank the Cheonan, but in the immediate aftermath of the sinking the South Korean navy detected no North Korean naval vessels, including submarines, in the area. Indeed, immediately following the incident defense minister Lee ruled out a North Korean torpedo attack, noting that a torpedo would have been spotted, and no torpedo had been spotted.

Finally we have the statement made by the South Korean Coast Guard Captain Go Yeong-jae who rescued 56 of the stricken warship’s crew, he “received an order …that a naval patrol vessel had run aground in the waters 1.2 miles to the southwest of Baengnyeong Island, and that we were to move there quickly to rescue them.”

The Cheonan incident certainly indicates yet another US, South Korea or possibly Israel concocted story that resembles another false flag incident that occurred during the Viet Nam War in the Gulf of Tonkin, in which the US fabricated a story about North Vietnam sinking the USS Maddox. This was used as an excuse to attack North Vietnam. Now we see America, South Korea and possibly Israel fabricating evidence in order to carry out an aggressive strategy towards North Korea under the pretext of "self-defense." What is also another most important part of this cover up was Clinton visit to Japan re the possible closure of a US Marine air base.

Let’s now turn to the evidence and prove that the South Korean Government with the help of the investigation team from the US, Sweden, Australia and the UK tried to deceive the international media into believing their analysis was correct.

When the South Korean Government did their first major press conference they very carefully created a full sized copy of the CHT-02D (which they say was used by the North Korean Navy in this incident). They just happened to obtain a copy of a brochure for this torpedo which they say is used to promote sales of the torpedo to overseas customers.

They even went a stage further to show a full scale drawing that was held up above the recovered parts to show that it was this actual torpedo that sank the Cheonan.
However, many people noticed that this certainly was not the case as the scale and design of the rear part of the torpedo did not match the drawing (which you can see in the above picture).

After some time the South Korean Government then produced another black and white detailed diagram that resembled the actual parts located and made a statement that they had rushed the original drawing to show the media and accordingly had made some mistakes. My question would be “How is this possible if the brochure was the actual brochure produced by the North Korean for their export market”?

I then decide to put the two drawings together and compare both with the actual recovered parts and again we can see that not only do the diagrams not align but also the propeller on the parts recovered is a much more sophisticated design in the aero dynamical sense. Also note the corrosion of the metal and prop which would indicate a longer period of time in the water and also longer period of oxidization once taken out of the water. The maximum time the remnants of the actual torpedo hat they claim sank the Cheonan was seven weeks.

The actual weapon used to sink this vessel was either a German manufactured torpedo or a moored submerged mine of possible US design both of which were capable of splitting the Cheonan in two as you can see in the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oUNt47G-08
One can also see an alternative view of this incident: http://www.nowpublic.com/world/new-gulf-tonkin-south-korean-torpedo-sunk-rok-warship

When one looks at the more modern German DM2A3 you can see a striking resemblance, not only in the design of the tail and propeller but also in its colour. You will note that the base colour of the German torpedo is the same as the parts that were put on public display

I have to say that yet again we see a classic US generated “False Flag” operation that in this case could take South Korea, US and allies to yet another war!

It is time that the people of the world, in particular those that live in the US, see through this false façade and stop these tyrants in their tracks. The axis of evil is not in some distant land but in minds of such people as Kissinger, Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Clinton and all those that have and continue to surround them. The ultimate responsibility for these evil actions must clearly rest on the shoulders of the Presidents and Prime Ministers of those countries who participate in such actions.

I will close off this article with a famous saying by Gandhi that adds meaning to this particular article: "When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it, ALWAYS."


Peter Eyre – Middle East Consultant – 3/8/2010