Hang on to Your Hats

[Rand{CLR}]

This JUST came across the wire on the Washington Post. It'll probably hit other sites very shortly. Here's the headline and lede:

South Korea: North responsible for torpedo attack on warship

By John Pomfret and Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, May 18, 2010; 2:47 PM

South Korea will formally blame North Korea on Thursday for launching a torpedo at one of its warships in March, causing an explosion that killed 46 sailors and heightened tensions in one of the world's most perilous regions, U.S. and East Asian officials said.

This won't go over very well.

-Rand

[Skud]

Wow...no surprise, but wow. I mean, a nation probably can't too much continue to look the other way when another nation sinks one of their 120 ton warships with a torpedo, can they? And when another nation (namely us) is intricately tied into the affairs of the nation that is attacked...wow.

[{CLR} ObiTroy]

OMG! Nope, won't go over well at all. Turning on the news now... .

[Jeffro]

just seen that on drudge report.... i'm guessing nothing will happen.

[Duke{CLR}]

Hmmm I didn't think the north could hit anything with their technology I wouldn't worry too much thought Hillary will be all over this, with her years of experience in dealing with errant tubes she is the woman for the job.

[{CLR} ObiTroy]

Finally... watching this on the news now. First thing I've heard about it.

It's the perfect thing to take to the UN Security council. But they can't handle more then one issue at a time. Useless. American policy should be what it has been... a reunited Korea. But the north doesn't want econmic livelyhood and a representative government, they would want to be in charge.

I just don't see the U.S. supporting the south as they should, not in this administration. Heaven forbid we alienate China or Iran. And the north has nukes.

Not a good situation at all.

[Rand{CLR}]

Actually, we're committed to South Korea's defence just like we are Taiwan (more so actually, since we have a division in-country). Don't diss Obama for something that he has never indicated he wouldn't do.

-Rand

[{CLR} ObiTroy]

Well see.

[Skud]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asi...c/10131683.stm

Mr Lee's presidential office said he had told Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd his government would be taking firm measures against the North, and through international co-operation would make the North admit wrongdoing.

Japan's Prime Minister said in a statement that North Korea's action was "unforgivable".

Yukio Hatoyama said Japan would support South Korea if it sought a UN Security Council resolution against North Korea.

However the BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul says agreeing on an international response will be difficult as the diplomatic options will be limited.

So it looks, so far, like the response varies in harshness between "making North Korea admit wrongdoing" and continuing the sanctions that are already in place. Hmmm, that'll teach them!

[{CLR} ObiTroy]

NKorea warns of war if punished for ship sinking

[Skud]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/wo...5korea.html?hp

and the pressure grows:

SEOUL, South Korea ? Tensions escalated sharply Monday on the Korean Peninsula as the South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, said that his nation would sever nearly all trade with North Korea, deny North Korean merchant ships use of South Korean sea lanes and ask the United Nations Security Council to punish the North for what he called the deliberate sinking of a South Korean warship two months ago.

Cutting off trade with North Korea is the most punishing unilateral action the South could take against the impoverished North. It will deprive North Korea of 14.5 percent of its external trade and $253 million in cash revenues a year, according to estimates by Lim Kang-taek, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.

Mr. Lee also said that South Korea would block North Korean merchant ships from using South Korean waters, which would force the ships to detour and use more fuel. North Korean merchant ships made 717 trips to South Korean ports or through South Korean sea lanes last year.

Besides these unilateral measures, South Korea will ?refer this matter to the U.N. Security Council, so that the international community can join us in holding the North accountable,? Mr. Lee said. ?Many countries around the world have expressed their full support for our position.?

?We have always tolerated North Korea?s brutality, time and again,? Mr. Lee said. ?But now things are different. North Korea will pay a price corresponding to its provocative acts. Trade and exchanges between South and North Korea will be suspended.?

North Korea?s military immediately warned that if South Korea put up propaganda loudspeakers and slogans at the border, it would destroy them with artillery shells, the North?s official K.C.N.A. news agency reported.

In Washington, the Obama administration said the South Korean measures were ?entirely appropriate.? President Obama instructed American military commanders to coordinate closely with their South Korean counterparts to ?insure readiness and deter aggression.?

?The Republic of Korea can continue to count on the full support of the United States,? Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in Beijing, where she was attending high-level talks between China and the United States that have been overshadowed by the crisis. ?Our support for South Korea?s defense is unequivocal.?