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S. Korea unlikely to react militarily to ship sinking: expert
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, April 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will not likely take military action even if it confirms North Korea's involvement in the sinking of a South Korean warship on the disputed sea border last month, a scholar said Tuesday.
"It appears the public is angry, but not angry enough to advocate military strikes against North Korea that could escalate into an unpredictable all-out conflict," Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, wrote on the foundation's Web site. "At this point, it appears unlikely for Seoul to contemplate a military attack. There is repeated precedent for both South Korea and the US not responding militarily to previous North Korean attacks, even when they resulted in loss of life."
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young Saturday said that a torpedo attack is the most likely cause of the sinking of the 1,200-ton Cheonan in the Yellow Sea near the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border and the scene of three bloody battles between the navies of the two Koreas since 1999.
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