Not as much media coverage of this incident as you would think ... they are being strangely reticent. "Fired a shot northward" -- wtf?

Navy Patrol Boat Sinks in West Sea

By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter

A South Korean Navy patrol ship sank off the west coast at around 9:45 p.m. Friday near the disputed maritime border with North Korea, officials said. As of 9:00 a.m. Saturday, 58 of the 104-crew members were rescued from the 1,200-ton ship Cheonan, but some 40 others were missing.

President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency meeting, while the military deployed patrol boats and helicopters in a rescue operation.

The possibility of a North Korean attack was raised when local residents reported having heard "loud artillery firing" for at least 10 minutes from 11 p.m., according to Yonhap News. Military officials were quoted as saying a South Korean vessel fired a shot northward at an unidentified ship, but the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the object caught on radar appears to have been a flock of birds. "We have been unable to pinpoint the exact cause of the incident as of this moment," the Navy said. Sources say an unexplained explosion in the rear of the ship may have ripped a hole in the vessel's bottom.

The United States said it had no evidence that North Korea had been involved in the tragic sinking. "Let's not jump to conclusions here," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/03/113_63126.html