S Korean ship explosion cause unclear; 46 still missing

It would be really crap if the official story is that the crew are to be responsible for their own demise or anything to tarnish the reputation of both the living and dead crew.

Other news sources are saying it was not North Korea's fault:

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=1032924

All of a sudden it became clear, that the non-smoking sign near the weapons storage indeed has a meaning and should be followed.

neverknow: "Despite the location of the sinking, North Korea did not appear to be involved."

Even from what I quoted above it's pretty clear that even this article indicates NK was not involved. Unfortunately, this will probably be lost on those surviving the missing soldiers; naturally they want someone to blame, and it's very, very easy to blame NKorea. Sadly, this is probably going to prove to be a case of munitions explosion (poor handling or safety standards). I think they just want to let it stew a little while they think of a 'good' way to report it.

In any case, it's a sad story.

N Korea cried wolf, and now remains silent.

RIP to the poor sailors.

nandakandamanda: While NK could go a long way by saying they feel sorry for the loss of the soldiers, I think they are probably wisest in remaining quiet and not saying a thing either way. Obviously if they use it as propaganda or for negative press in general it would be a terrible thing. But on the other hand them expressing feelings of sympathy would only generate a backlash and severe doubt as to sincerity... perhaps for good reason.

It is just too bad. Accidents. They happen all the time. The cause might never be found.

You know, it is weird though, because Timorborder was writing just yesterday about how careful military people are, ALWAYS. And 20 year veteran of the navy Alphaape was writing about how he had never heard of this kind of accident ever happening, and how great the South Korean navy is. So gosh. All the military experts posting on JT seem to think that an accident is out of the question. I really believed them because they seemed so authoritative and they kind of made fun of me for not having as much military experience as they have. They really had me convinced. Now it turns out that it was an accident after all. What gives? I thought I could trust the opinions of experts posting here.

Anyway, North Korea's muted reaction is mildly interesting. Their calculus of propaganda gains vs. "really irritating Seoul" might be much more reasonable than I had thought. They will probably just keep their mouth shut.

You can bet North Korea is telling its people of its victorious naval action against the imperialist-backed South Korean aggressors.

I doubt NK will claim credit in any case, even to their own public - they have enough on their plate (or maybe too little) to stir the pot with something like this.