South Korea ? South Korea’s president today bemoaned the “precious deaths” of dozens of sailors killed when an explosion destroyed their warship, as suspicion increasingly fell on a North Korean torpedo blast in the disaster.

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said Sunday that an underwater explosion appeared to have ripped apart the 1,200-ton Cheonan on March 26, and that a torpedo blast seemed the most likely cause. Investigators who examined salvaged wreckage separately announced Sunday that a close-range, external explosion likely sank it.