How Should South Korea Respond To The Cheonan Sinking?

For those of you who dont know it yet the North Korean Navy has sunk a South Korean

ship in waters that both countries have disputed since the Korean Conflict. A team of international investigators have found evidence which points directly at North Korea. The North Korean government denies any part in the sinking and vows that it will meet any attempt at retaliation with all out war. Now thats where we are and it is what it is.

The question for the South Korean government right now is how do you deal with this incident? They have no choice but to respond in some way, but whatever response that they take must be careful and measured. The evidence that the investigative team found is circumstantial but it also cant be refuted. Fragments of a torpedo of the type that the North Korean Navy uses were found along with a serial number which was consistent with another serial number taken off of a North Korean torpedo which had been captured earlier.

The sinking is believed to be retaliation for an earlier incident where some North Korean sailors were killed in a skirmish. South Korean intelligence had received reports that the president of North Korea was seeking to sink a ship to retaliate for the incident but for some reason the South Korean Navy was not alerted. Now we come to this point. What should the South Korean Government do?

Well for one thing we know that they have to institute safety measures to insure that this never happens again. There had to be some sort of lapse in safety that allowed it to happen in the first place. The waters were disputed and there had been hostile action there before so Im not sure how the North Koreans were able to sneak in a sucker punch. There appears to have been a lapse in security which allowed this to happen but that may or may not be the case.

The response of the North Korean Government has painted both itself and South Korea into a corner with its harsh response to the provocation. South Korea must respond or lose face. If you know anything about the oriental culture you know that neither government will want to lose face. So now back to the question of what to do? Personally I think that the North Koreans are bluffing but a decision should not be made on what I think or what anyone else thinks for that matter. All of the facts have to be considered, the risks must be analyzed, and the consequences weighed.

The South Korean government must make a response, and they should do it quickly. They will be seen as weak and waffling if they dont. After making their statement they need to seek international support in their efforts against North Korea. When they make their appeal to the international community they need to stress very strongly that they will not remove the option of military force. It should be easy to get the cooperation of the international community since the incident is still fresh in their minds.

This will effectively make the incident a case of North Korea versus the world. World pressure may be enough to cause North Korea to back down but I doubt it.

If the South Korean government elects not to use their military option, economic sanctions are always another option. Regardless of whatever else that they do they should stop their workers who work in North Korea from going. North Korea has a very fragile economy and they may respond to sanctions if the sanctions are enforceable. Whatever happens in this case should be thought through very carefully because the consequences of a wrong decision may be grave. Military Ring Express

by: tishbite

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