( CNN ) -- The South Korean military suspended its search for missing sailors Wednesday because of high winds spawned by stormy weather , the Yonhap News Agency reported . Searchers have been looking for 46 missing sailors from the 1,200-ton ship Cheonan , a naval ship that sank Friday in the Yellow Sea near the maritime border of North and South Korea . Fifty-eight crew members were rescued , and the intense search led to the death of a military diver and the hospitalization of two others . Diver dies in rescue effort near sunken ship . Yonhap reported that divers have injected `` air through a crack in the stem of the 88-meter-long corvette , hopeful that the latter section of the ship , about 45 meters underwater , is holding crew members alive . '' But high winds and strong currents have been working against the rescue effort . `` We are temporarily suspending operations . We can not expect to get near the ship in this condition , '' defense ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae told reporters . Military officials say an explosion tore a hole in the rear of the ship , but the cause of the blast is not known . South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has called for a thorough investigation into the cause of the explosion , and the country 's defense minister , Kim Tae-young , has raised the possibility that one of the many North Korean sea mines placed during the 1950-53 Korean War could have triggered the blast . He said the military was `` trying its best '' to find survivors and that the cause of the incident will be made public `` at the soonest possible time . '' Rescuers find rear section of ship where sailors could be trapped . The navy plans to salvage the vessel , which was carrying missiles and torpedoes , to determine what caused the incident , Yonhap reported . Kim said work to hoist the ship above water could start next week and he said the government is mulling the formation of a fact-finding group to look into the incident . `` We will explain anything to answer questions and address rumors concerning the incident , '' Kim said . `` We have nothing to hide and no reason to hide . So many lives are involved in this case . '' Monday evening was the end of a 69-hour window during which rescuers believed the sailors could survive . Divers have knocked on the hulls of different parts of the ship with hammers , but raised no response . Baengyeong Island , the Seoul-administered island near the scene of the accident , is a flash point maritime border area between the Koreas . Given Baengyeong Island 's proximity to North Korea , North Korean involvement had been feared , but South Korean officials have continued to play down that scenario . North Korea 's official media has yet to mention the incident , according to Yonhap , but accused the United States and South Korea of conducting a maritime drill for the purpose of invading North Korea .
High winds caused by stormy weather delay search for missing South Korean sailors . 46 went missing after explosion sank a naval ship Friday in the Yellow Sea . 58 seamen were rescued soon after sinking ; no bodies or survivors found since then . Military sources say an explosion tore a hole in the hull of the ship ; cause of the blast not confirmed .