"I think it was a conditional statement" by South Korea's defense minister, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters. "I don't know that the investigation has arrived at that final judgment."

He added: "When it does, we'll draw implications from it."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs meanwhile said that Washington had been cooperating with its ally South Korea in the investigation into the corvette's sinking on March 26, but would not be drawn on a possible US response.

"I don't want to get into hypotheticals at this point. We'll have more to say when they have completed that investigation."

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-Young said Sunday that the ship might have been sunk by a "a bubble jet" -- an underwater explosion near the ship -- or by a direct hit from a heavy torpedo, but said "various other possibilities are also under review."

Shortly after the vessel sank, Kim said a mine or a torpedo could have been to blame, but Seoul subsequently rowed back and has since been careful to avoid pointing a finger at the Communist regime in Pyongyang, which has denied any involvement in the warship's sinking.

During a visit to Estonia on Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she hoped there would be "no miscalculation" that could spark a new war between North and South Korea.

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