The South Koreans have released a report on the recent sinking of one of their ships, based in part on intelligence provided by the United States, which asserts that it was a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine that sunk their ship.
South Korea's military believes a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine sank its navy ship last month, based on intelligence gathered jointly with the United States, a news report said on Thursday.
The Yonhap news report appears to be the clearest sign yet that Seoul blames Pyongyang for what would be one of the deadliest incidents between the rivals since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. It puts more political pressure on President Lee Myung-bak, but analysts do not see it triggering a war.The military's intelligence arm sent the report of "certain" North Korean involvement to the presidential Blue House soon after the incident, Yonhap quoted a high-ranking military source as saying.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula stay in normal state of unease, and this certainly is not going to help. The constant sabre rattling and threatening posture of the North Koreans is something the people living in the south have learned to accept over time, but this is going to put intense pressure on the South Korean president.
The other part though is to keep an eye and an ear out for what the United States reaction to this provocation is. Given all of the smart diplomacy we have seen from this administration I expect to see Hillary in Pyongyang apologizing to the 'Supreme Leader' for the obvious lack of navigation skills of the South Korean sailors and probably offering to trade a few pounds of enriched uranium for promises that they will not carry out any further attacks.
For those of you who received your entire education in government schools it is important to let you know that the Korean War was never officially ended. There was a ceasefire resolution signed, but the North has always maintained that they will resume hostilities anytime they wish. Every time one of these incidents happen the tension becomes palpable in Korea. I was there when Kim Il-Sung, father of the current leader, died. Our forces immediately went on alert and deployed, realizing we would be nothing more then a speed bump should the North decide to vacation in Seoul. After about 24 hours Clinton ordered us to stand down, which shook all of us by surprise. We left our dispersed battle positions and returned to our barracks. The reasoning was they didn't want us to appear to be provoking the North, which was funny--not in a funny way when your ass is on the line--in that the North was massing everything they had on the border. Returning us to our bases drew up images of Pearl Harbor. Nobody got a good night's sleep for a couple of weeks, but fortunately the situation calmed down. For you Clintonistas who think us standing down was what eased the tension, think again. There was an intense power struggle taking place in North Korea between the new dictator and the military which kept them poised but unable to move.
The conventional wisdom in the wake of this most recent incident and the revelation of the North's involvement will not result in much of a response from the south, but I bet you can be assured 'The Dear Leader' of the North will have plenty to say and all of it will be blaming the United States working in cahoots with the South Koreans to fabricate the whole thing.
You know, like AhmaDinnerJacket does with Israel and the United States.
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