International court says will not investigate 2010 attacks on South Korea

A man points toward a monument for the 46 deceased navy sailors of the sunken ship Cheonan on the island of Baengnyeong, which lies on the South Korean side of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), in the Yellow Sea April 12, 2014. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court said on Monday it would not investigate two incidents of North Korean forces attacking South Korean territory in the Yellow Sea in 2010 because neither attack had purposefully targeted civilians.

The court opened a preliminary examination into the two episodes, in which a total of 50 people died, to establish if there were grounds for proceeding to a full investigation.