North Korea is known best for its bluster and threats, rather than its political analysis, which is why its foreign ministry's commentary on the sinking of the Cheonan, in which 46 South Koreans perished, makes for such interesting reading.
The statement, issued last Friday, denied Seoul's charge that the South Korean warship was the victim of a torpedo attack launched by Pyongyang. To find out who was responsible, it added, just look at who has benefited from the incident.
The North Korean statement concluded - quite correctly - that the incident has put China in an awkward position while helping to strengthen America's alliances with both Japan and South Korea, which had been under some strain.
China has been under pressure, particularly from the United States and South Korea, to join in a condemnation of North Korea in the United Nations Security Council. Over the weekend, Premier Wen Jiabao was in South Korea for a tripartite summit involving the leaders of China, South Korea and Japan and, while there, he said China had not yet reached a conclusion on the incident.
Russian experts have accepted an invitation to sift through the evidence, including a torpedo propeller allegedly with North Korean markings, which led a multinational group of investigators to conclude that Pyongyang was responsible.
China, too, has been invited to send experts to examine the evidence. So far, there has been no report as to whether the Chinese have accepted this invitation. If the Russians, after examining the evidence, concur with the opinion of the South Korean, American, British, Australian and Swedish experts, it would undoubtedly put more pressure on China to take a position. China is certainly in an awkward situation, to put it mildly. Beijing, after all, is the principal supporter of Pyongyang and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, recently visited China and was f?ted by President Hu Jintao .
