The Cheonan’s Sinking: Calling for Peacemaking (Foreign Policy Journal)
Both South Korea and the United States need to exercise flexibility and to conduct engagement with the North to cope with current challenges.
by Jae Young Lee
July 31, 2010
On March 26, the Cheonan, a South Korean warship, sank near the Northern Limit Line (NLL). The Joint Civilian-Military Group, which included international experts, was formed to investigate the sinking, ultimately concluding, on May 20, that North Korea was the culprit. On May 24, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak delivered his address to the nation at the War Memorial of Korea, definitively blaming the sinking on the North.
The NLL was established to delimit each maritime area in the West Sea within which South and North Korea would control their respective military forces following the end of the Korean War in 1953. The line was unilaterally set by the Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations force, and has never been legally recognized by North Korea.

The Cheonan (Lee, Jae-won/Reuters)
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