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UN Security Council members held consultations on the attack on Wednesday and British ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said behind-the-scenes talks would continue through at least Thursday.
The permanent Security Council powers -- United States, China, Russia, Britain and France -- are concentrating on consultations at government level, officials said, stressing the caution with which all wanted to proceed.
No country has asked for a special meeting of the Security Council over the missile attack in which two South Korean soldiers and two civilians were killed.
It is possible that the Security Council, the United Nations' guarantor of international peace, will take no action over Tuesday's attack on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, diplomats said.
"This is the problem from hell if you are a policymaker," commented Leon Sigal, a veteran analyst on the West's dealings with North Korea.
"There really is no indication that something will happen," said one Security Council nation diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The council's response to North Korea's sinking of a South Korean warship in March still gives nightmares to many representatives. No meeting or statement was agreed until July -- nearly four months later.
The statement condemned the sinking of the ship, in which 46 South Korean navy crew died, but did not blame the North, which denies involvement.
"Everyone was shocked by the Cheonan (warship) affair," said another diplomat. "No one wants to throw their energy into a meeting for no reason. Everyone wants to wait.
"The Chinese are dragging their feet, it's true, but everyone wants to wait and think it out."
North Korea, one of the world's most isolated countries, already faces UN sanctions over its nuclear weapons program. It has been accused of helping Iran with its nuclear drive and just shrugs off complaints about its human rights and bellicose attitude toward its neighbors.
The international powers "have the feeling they have fired all their bullets and they don't know what to do now with North Korea," the diplomat said.
One diplomat said it was "an option" that the council would take no action. "It could take weeks, maybe nothing will be done," added another.
The Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee is to meet on Monday and the attack could get a mention there.
"China is a major factor," in the international talks, according to Jamie Metzl, Asia Society executive vice president and a former member of the US National Security Council under president Bill Clinton.
"Their strategy has been to delay and water down," he said, pointing to the delay in passing a Security Council statement on the sinking of the Cheonan.
Sigal, director of the North Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council, a New York think tank, said the Security Council could add new sanctions but it would only be "a symbol."
"The pressure does not work as the North Koreans do counter-pressure and brinkmanship so much better than we do," he commented.
"The Chinese are actually extremely unhappy. They are not going to do anything to increase the stranglehold on North Korea, they know that it does not make sense. The key is to get the talks going. The United States has got to get engaged."
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