The Time Bomb Is Ticking....

[ABM]

tick..........tick............tick........

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100520/ap_on_re_as/as_skorea_ship_sinks

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea, accused of waging the deadliest attack on the South Korean military since the Korean War, flatly denied sinking a warship Thursday and warned that retaliation would mean "all-out war."

Evidence presented Thursday to prove North Korea fired a torpedo that sank a South Korean ship was fabricated by Seoul, North Korean naval spokesman Col. Pak In Ho told broadcaster APTN in an exclusive interview in Pyongyang.

He warned that any move to sanction or strike North Korea would be met with force.
"If (South Korea) tries 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," he told APTN.

An international team of civilian and military investigators declared earlier in Seoul that a North Korean submarine fired a homing torpedo at the Cheonan on March 26, ripping the 1,200-ton ship in two.
Fifty-eight sailors were rescued, but 46 died — South Korea's worst military disaster since a truce ended the three-year Korean War in 1953.

President Lee Myung-bak vowed to take "resolute countermeasures" and called an emergency security meeting for Friday.

The White House called the sinking an unacceptable "act of aggression" that violated international law and the 1953 truce. U.S. troops in and around South Korea remained on the same level of alert, said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

U.S. State Department officials reacted cautiously Thursday, refusing to call the attack an act of war or state-sponsored terror. The Obama administration's tempered response was an indication of how few options President Barack Obama has and how volatile the situation is.

"There's no interest in seeing the Korean peninsula explode," said P.J. Crowley, U.S. State Department spokesman.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama declared his support for South Korea, calling North Korea's actions "inexcusable."......................

 

[Eastoff]

I thought of this right away [video=youtube;JFSaG9ncw84]"]

But yes, I am curious how this will play out. It sort of got pushed to the side until the recent evidence.

 

[ABM]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100521/ap_on_re_as/as_clinton_asia

SHANGHAI – Citing "overwhelming" evidence that North Korea sank a South Korean warship, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned the communist state Friday of international consequences.

After discussions in Tokyo, Clinton planned to consult with counterparts in Beijing and Seoul on appropriate measures to take after an international investigative team on Thursday blamed North Korea for firing a torpedo that sank the South Korean ship in March, killing 46 sailors.

"This will not be and cannot be business as usual. There must be an international — not just a regional, but an international — response," she told a press conference in Tokyo, flanked by Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada. The subject has come to dominate her three-nation tour through Japan, China and South Korea.

The Chinese have the most leverage over the reclusive regime, and Beijing's support for any international response to Pyongyang will be critical to its success. But China, North Korea's main ally and a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, has thus far remained neutral.

While it was "premature" to discuss exact options or actions that will be taken, Clinton said it was "important to send a clear message to North Korea that provocative actions have consequences."
U.S. officials have refused to call the North's attack on the ship an act of war or state-sponsored terror, warning that an overreaction could cause the Korean peninsula to "explode." Instead, they said they would explore diplomatic steps through the U.N. or increase Washington's unilateral sanctions against North Korea's Soviet-style state.

Economic dialogue with China was supposed to be the main thrust of Clinton's Asia trip, but with Thursday's report blaming Pyongyang for sinking the Cheonan, her main task in Beijing will now be to try to persuade China to support U.N. Security Council action against North Korea.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

 

[Eastoff]

From what I've heard, there should be some economic sanctions increased. China should just abstain from voting on the issue.

 

[maxiep]

The North Korean regime will not go quietly. They're on the verge of collapse and desperate totalitarian societies do desperate things.