Families of the sailors asked the military to suspend the operation for fear of additional casualties among divers after one died and as chances of finding survivors grew increasingly unlikely after the discovery of the body of one of the sailors.
The decision came hours after divers discovered the body of a senior chief petty officer in the ship's rear area, the first of the 46 missing sailors to be found.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it stopped the underwater search out of respect for the families' request and will work to recover the 1,200-ton Cheonan.
Officials have said the salvage effort could last a month.
The vessel sank following an explosion March 26 during a routine patrol. Fifty-eight crew members, including the captain, were rescued soon after.
The ship broke into two pieces after the explosion. No cause has been determined for the blast and, despite some speculation, there has been no confirmation of North Korean involvement in the sinking, which occurred near the countries' disputed sea border in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of the Korean peninsula.
Defense Minister Kim Tae-young has said that a floating mine dispatched from North Korea was one possible explanation for the blast. A mine left over from the 1950-53 Korean War may also have struck the ship, he said.
Other officials say the cause of the explosion can only be determined after the sunken ship is recovered.
The sinking was one of South Korea's worst naval disasters. In 1974, a ship sank off the southeast coast in stormy weather, killing 159 sailors and coast guard personnel. In 1967, 39 sailors were killed by North Korean artillery.
Since the ordeal began, the families of the missing Cheonan sailors have expressed anger at the navy over what they saw as the slow pace of the rescue operation.
Separately, South Korea's coast guard found the bodies of two of nine fishermen whose boat disappeared as it sailed toward fishing grounds after helping to search for debris and possible survivors from the Cheonan.
The bodies of one South Korean and one Indonesian fishermen were discovered Saturday after contact was lost with the boat late Friday, said coast guard official Lee Kyo-min. The search was continuing for another Indonesian and six other South Korean crew members of the fishing boat.
Also, a funeral ceremony was held Saturday for a military diver who died during an attempt earlier in the week to reach the missing Cheonan sailors possibly trapped in the ship.
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