NORTH KOREA THREATENS – AT 7:41 P.M. ET:  North Korea has threatened war if South Korea retaliates for the north's sinking of a South Korean naval vessel:

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Tensions deepened Thursday on the Korean peninsula as South Korea accused North Korea of firing a torpedo that sank a naval warship, killing 46 sailors in the country's worst military disaster since the Korean War.

President Lee Myung-bak vowed "stern action" for the provocation following the release of long-awaited results from a multinational investigation into the March 26 sinking near the Koreas' tense maritime border. North Korea, reacting swiftly, called the results a fabrication, and warned that any retaliation would trigger war. It continued to deny involvement in the sinking of the warship Cheonan.

"If the (South Korean) enemies try to deal any retaliation or punishment, or if they try sanctions or a strike on us .... we will answer to this with all-out war," Col. Pak In Ho of North Korea's navy told broadcaster APTN in an exclusive interview in Pyongyang.

An international civilian-military investigation team said evidence overwhelmingly proves a North Korean submarine fired a homing torpedo that caused a massive underwater blast that tore the Cheonan apart. Fifty-eight sailors were rescued from the frigid Yellow Sea waters, but 46 perished.

Since the 1950-53 war on the Korean peninsula ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty, the two Koreas remain locked in a state of war and divided by the world's most heavily armed border.
The truce prevents Seoul from waging a unilateral military attack.

COMMENT:  This is a growing crisis, to be watched carefully.  The South Koreans, and their American allies, must do something to punish North Korea for its attack – and the evidence pointing to North Korea is clear – but a failure to act decisively will be seen as weakness of the worst sort.

Retaliation doesn't have to be military.  It can be economic, diplomatic, sanctions, or other punishment.

My fear is that the White House, acting according to its usual pattern, will try to manage the dispute and calm it down, with North Korea receiving hardly a slap on the wrist.  It's the Obama way.  Let's see if he can break with his own bad habits.

May 20, 2010