The Washington Post says the fallout from the sinking of South Korea’s “Cheonan” naval vessel is perhaps creating the most serious crisis on the Korean Peninsula in 20 years.

The paper reported Wednesday that although there is no definitive explanation for North Korea’s apparently self-destructive actions, aggression is a tactic the Kim Jong-il regime has used to build up national support and to retain power.

The paper said Pyongyang’s threats of “all-out war” and a shutdown of economic cooperation with South Korea appear to hurt North Korea more than the South.

But the report also said that there is a regime-preserving method to North Korea’s current behavior that from the outside can seem like self-immolating madness.