S.Korea conducts naval training exercise to mark Cheonan sinking incident

The South Korean military on Wednesday conducted naval training exercises to mark the fifth anniversary of the Cheonan sinking in March 2010.

The naval maneuvers came a day ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Cheonan sinking incident where the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan sank off the disputed western maritime border, killing 46 soldiers among 104 on board the ill-fated warship.

Seoul said that the corvette was sunken by torpedoes fired by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), a charge repeatedly denied by Pyongyang.

The naval maneuvers involved massed naval forces, including about 10 battleships such as a 3,200-ton destroyer and a 1,200-ton corvette, the same in size as the Cheonan warship.

The battleships staged firing exercises with guns of the ships that have a range of 12-23 km.

The DPRK on Wednesday accused the United States of plotting the Cheonan sinking incident and using it to step up hostility against Pyongyang.

The Panmumjom mission of the Korean People's Army issued a statement, saying the U.S. engineered the case to isolate and stifle the DPRK and secure justification for arms buildup in the region.

The statement slammed Washington for standing in the way of probe into the truth behind the incident, saying that the U.S. was "a backstage wire-puller" who instigated Seoul to fabricate the story about the torpedo attack.