Photo

SEOUL, South Korea — The South Korean military vowed revenge without identifying a target as the country gave an emotional farewell on Thursday to the sailors killed when their ship sank last month near a disputed sea border with North Korea.

If the ship is found to have been torpedoed by North Korea, as many South Koreans suspect, it will amount to one of the most serious provocations from the North in recent decades. Seoul has repeatedly vowed “stern countermeasures” but has shied from publicly discussing its options until an investigation is over.

Military retaliation, however, is unlikely, analysts say.

“We’ll never forgive whoever inflicted this great pain on us,” said the navy chief of staff, Kim Sung-chan, at a mass funeral for the victims on Thursday in the port city of Pyeongtaek, about 45 miles south of Seoul, home of the ship’s naval base. “We will track them down to the end and we will, by all means, make them pay for this.”

Sirens wailed, flags flew at half-staff and navy ships sounded whistles as South Korea honored the 40 sailors known to have died and 6 others who are missing and presumed dead.

Advertisement Continue reading the main story

There is widespread suspicion among South Koreans that the ship was hit by a North Korean torpedo.

Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, said on Thursday that he noticed “uncharacteristic reticence and nervousness” among South Korean officials although, metaphorically, “they found a body with a bullet hole in the head and North Korea was the only guy in the room with the pistol.”

Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.

Mr. Klingner has met South Korean officials in the past week over the ship’s sinking.

Investigators are studying the salvaged wreck of the ship, which broke in half on March 26. They are also searching the seabed for evidence of what caused the explosion. South Korea’s defense minister has said a heavy torpedo was the most likely cause, although he has not openly blamed North Korea, which has denied involvement.

More than 2,000 guests, including President Lee Myung-bak and foreign ambassadors, attended the funeral. Mothers of the sailors wailed as they clasped their sons’ photos and the urns containing their ashes.