Foreign media say South Korea has a difficult road ahead of it in terms of how it can respond to the “Cheonan” naval incident.

The Washington Post said Thursday that if North Korea is found to be behind the naval disaster, Seoul and Washington have limited options it can use to respond.

The paper said that military retaliation would risk a devastating war on the Korean Peninsula and that asking the U.N. Security Council for more sanctions against the communist state would require the consent of China, which would not easily be persuaded.

BBC cited a North Korean torpedo or a mine as possible causes of the explosion that tore the ship in two.

However, BBC said that military retaliation is highly unlikely because of the danger of escalation and that the diplomatic route through the U.N. is also problematic because the North is already one of the most isolated and sanctioned countries in the world.