"The United States will provide any assistance requested, to include technical expertise in any investigation," a spokesman for US forces in Korea said.

There has been intense speculation -- and a host of Internet conspiracy theories -- about the cause of the explosion which sank the 1,200-tonne corvette Cheonan on March 26 near the disputed Yellow Sea border.

The area was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002 and of a firefight last November.

Some members of the main opposition party say they suspects officials are hiding facts about the tragedy.

"I believe technical support from US experts will be helpful in carrying out an unbiased analysis of the incident," South Korea's top military officer General Lee Sang-Eui said during a meeting with US Commander General Walter Sharp.

Sharp pledged "the full support of the absolute highest levels of our government".

President Lee Myung-Bak said earlier in the day that Seoul would not rush its probe because the world was watching the outcome.

"Given the examples of disasters in various advanced nations, accuracy is more important than speed in determining the cause of this kind of big incident," he said in a radio address.

"We will have to find the cause in a way that satisfies not only our people but also the international community."

US President Barack Obama telephoned Lee last Thursday to offer sympathy and support. The United States, a close ally, stations 28,500 troops in the South.

Defence Minister Kim Tae-Young said Friday a torpedo might have caused the sinking, although this was only one of several possibilities. He did not say who might have launched it.

US ships and personnel took part in efforts last week to rescue sailors believed to be trapped in the sunken rear section of the hull. The focus has now switched to raising the hull sections and probing the cause.

After finding one body Saturday, the South Korean navy officially called off the risky rescue bid at the request of families of the missing. One navy diver has already died.

In a separate incident, a South Korean and an Indonesian have been confirmed dead and seven others remain missing after a trawler taking part in the search hit a Cambodian-registered freighter Friday.

Civilian and military experts are preparing an operation to lift the hull sections onto huge barges but say the salvage could take weeks.

A 2,000-tonne sea crane arrived Saturday near the scene of the sinking and a 3,600-tonne crane is on the way.

A total of four giant cranes and three barges will be used to lift the front and rear sections of the sunken corvette from the seabed, navy officials said.

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