Report: South Korean navy ship sinks

A South Korean navy ship sank in the Yellow Sea near North Korea late Friday, and the navy shot at an unidentified ship toward the north, according to reports quoting South Korean government officials.

Yon-hap News Agency quoted Navy officials saying Friday that a ship carrying 104 crew members sank off the Seoul-controlled island of Baengnyeong in a flashpoint maritime border area between the Koreas.

The 1,500-ton Cheonan went down at 9:45 p.m. near the island, but the cause of the incident was not immediately known, the officials said.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak ordered a “quick and thorough” investigation Saturday into what caused the ship to sink, keeping in mind “all possibilities,” his office said, according to Yonhap.

A rescue operation was under way, with the Navy telling Yonhap it had rescued 58 crew members but it feared others may be dead.

The South Korean government issued a statement saying the reason for the incident remains unclear, but it wasn’t ruling out some sort of military engagement. An explosion had occurred in the rear of the ship, leaving a large hole in the ship’s underwater hull, officials told Yonhap.