A joint military-civilian investigative team has concluded that the sinking of the naval vessel “Cheonan” was caused by a North Korean torpedo.

The probe team says that before sinking, the South Korean naval patrol ship was split in two by an external underwater explosion caused by a torpedo.

The international investigative team reached its conclusion after scrutinizing wreckage of the naval ship and other material evidence collected near the sinking site in the Yellow Sea.

According to the probe team, the South Korean corvette was significantly damaged by shock waves and a bubble jet caused by the exploding torpedo.

As decisive evidence, the probe team cited a serial number engraved on a piece of the torpedo's propeller that is written in a font used by North Korea.

It confirmed that the naval catastrophe was caused by a 250-kilogram torpedo made in North Korea.

The probe team added that a North Korean submarine and warship left a naval base two or three days before the “Cheonan” incident took place. The vessels returned to the base two or three days after the South Korean ship's sinking.

The team says its conclusions were drawn from an objective and scientific probe conducted by 47 domestic civilian and military experts, and 24 foreign specialists from the U.S., Australia, Britain and Sweden.