PRIME Minister Hun Sen has written to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to offer his condolences for the deaths of 46 South Korean naval officers who perished in the sinking of the warship Cheonan on March 26.

Earlier this month, an international commission investigating the sinking of the vessel concluded that the available evidence pointed “overwhelmingly” to its sinking by a North Korean torpedo attack.

“I feel deeply surprised and concerned that the investigation, jointly conducted by South Korean and international experts, has concluded with irrefutable proofs that the [vessel] was sunk by a torpedo explosion,” Hun Sen said in the letter, dated Saturday.

“On behalf of the Royal Government and people of Cambodia, I would like to take this opportunity to once again express my profound condolences and sympathies to Your Excellency, the Government and people of the Republic of Korea, particularly the bereaved families for this terrible and needless loss of lives,” he added.

Hun Sen’s letter did not mention the possible North Korean involvement in the attack. When contacted Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said he did not have anything to add about the incident, but that relations between Cambodia and South Korea are strong.