Analysts question Korea torpedo incident http://blog.washingtonpost.com/spy-talk/2010/05/asian_analysts_question_korea_torpedo_incident.html?hpid=news-col-blog

South Korean analysts are questioning how a submarine of a fifth-rate power was able to penetrate a U.S.-South Korean naval exercise and sink a ship that was designed for anti-submarine warfare. Articles appearing in the South Korean and Japanese media suggest the naval exercise was, in fact, intended to provoke the North to attack. According to this analysis, the resulting public outcry in the South would bolster support for the conservative South Korean government that is opposed to reconciliation efforts.

Japanese journalist Tanaka Sakai called the ship’s sinking “an enigma,” adding: "The Cheonan was a patrol boat whose mission was to survey .. the enemy’s submarines, torpedoes, and aircraft ... " Sakai wrote: "If North Korean submarines and torpedoes were approaching, the Cheonan should have been able to sense it quickly and take measures to counterattack or evade. .. It is hard to imagine that the Cheonan sonar forces were not on alert."