Ambassadors of the 15 Council members are traveling through Afghanistan and Turkey from June 19 and are expected to wrap up the trip on Sunday, ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun said. Asked whether the discussions on the Cheonan sinking will be suspended, he said the deputy chiefs of missions will still be on hand to deal with the issue.
"We believe informal consultations among deputy ambassadors or other representatives of the Security Council members will still take place," Kim said. "Last week, when there were no fixed dates for official or unofficial discussions on the Cheonan, the members still met behind closed doors for consultations. We think informal talks can continue this week even without the ambassadors."
Seoul asked the Security Council on June 4 to take up the sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean naval patrol ship that went down near the inter-Korean Yellow Sea border on March 26. A South Korean investigation, assisted by foreign experts, concluded that a North Korean submarine attacked it with a torpedo.
Council members were briefed last week of the probe results by the investigators.
North Korea has denied any responsibility and has threatened to take military action in response to any punishment against it.//Yonhap
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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