TOKYO, April 26 (KUNA) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak paid tribute Monday to dozens of sailors killed in the March 26 sinking of a naval ship, the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported.
"The Republic of Korea will not forget your lofty sacrifice," Lee wrote in the guest book at an altar set up in front of Seoul City Hall, using South Korea's official name, the report said.
Lee laid a chrysanthemum in front of the portraits of the victims, offered incense, and stood for a moment of silence.
South Koreans are in mourning over the sinking of the Cheonan, a 1,200-ton corvette, near the inter-Korean border in the Yellow Sea.
Prime Minister Chung Un-chan on Sunday announced a five-day national mourning period after the remaining half of the Cheonan, which was broken in two, was retrieved from the sea floor a day earlier.
A joint funeral for the 46 sailors will be held on Thursday at a naval base in Pyeongtaek, 70 km south of Seoul.
The bodies of 40 crew members have been found but six others remain unaccounted for. The families of the six earlier agreed with the Navy to list them as killed in action.
Out of 104 crew members aboard, 58 were rescued.
The disaster is considered the worst in South Korea's naval history with dozens of deaths.
Investigators have said the sinking was most likely caused by a "bubble jet, " a powerful shockwave and high-pressure gas bubble made when a torpedo or a sea mine explodes underneath a vessel, deepening suspicions that North Korea may be behind the incident.
North Korea denied any involvement.(end) mk.wsa KUNA 261357 Apr 10NNNN