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S.Korean letter to UN Security Council does not seek sanctions against North

© RIA Novosti . Ivan Zakharchenko Cheonan
Cheonan - Sputnik International
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South Korea's ambassador to the UN, Park In-kook, on Friday handed a letter to Claude Heller, permanent representative of the UN Security Council presidency Mexico, asking for considerations on the South Korean ship allegedly sunk by North Korea.

South Korea's ambassador to the UN, Park In-kook, on Friday handed a letter to Claude Heller, permanent representative of the UN Security Council presidency Mexico, asking for considerations on the South Korean ship allegedly sunk by North Korea.

Tensions between the two Koreas grew after South Korea's 1,200-ton Cheonan corvette sunk near the disputed Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea on March 26, with the loss of 46 lives. An international investigation concluded that North Korea fired a torpedo at the vessel from a submarine, although Pyongyang has denied the allegations.

Earlier Friday, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Seoul already appealed to the United Nations Security Council, but in reality the letter was handed over after 1500 GMT.

Pyongyang claims the incident was "orchestrated" by the United States in order to "hype the threat from North Korea" ahead of "Congress midterm elections slated for the coming November."

The diplomat said the letter contains no call for sanctions but only a request to consider the situation. Veto-wielding China is set against possible sanctions.

A group of Russian experts are in South Korea assessing the results of the investigation and will present their findings to President Dmitry Medvedev.

Following the investigation into the sinking, South Korea froze economic relations and maritime communications with its northern neighbor, further crippling the North's economy, which is already damaged by UN sanctions intended to force it to quit its nuclear program.

UNITED NATIONS, June 4 (RIA Novosti) 

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