[ U.S. Shows Guarded Response to North Korea - NTDTV ]
SEOUL, South Korea—In response to North Korea’s attack on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong Tuesday—the first military offensive on civilians since the Korean War ended in 1953—Seoul promised to “retaliate against any additional acts of provocation in a resolute manner.”
According to the South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the North Korea military started firing a barrage of artillery shells at 2:34 p.m. local time, on Yeonpyeong Island and its surrounding waters. A least two marines were killed and 13 soldiers wounded, as shells fell on the island inhabited by 1,600 civilians. Four residents were reported wounded. The bombing on the island ended at 3:29 p.m.
South Korea’s military responded at 2:47 pm, firing 80 shells toward the North Korean artillery base on the west coast, and deploying fighter jets to the West Sea. All troops were placed on maximum alert.
Lee also said, “This provocation represents inhuman atrocities, bombing indiscriminately on unarmed civilian residential area,” But he added, “the [South Korean] military will try its best to prevent the situation from getting aggravated, while curbing the additional provocation [from the North].”
The spokesman for South Korean president Lee Myung-Bak denounced the attack in the strongest terms possible. “The firing of artillery by North Korea against Yeonpyeongdo [Yeonpyeong Island] constitutes an indisputable armed provocation against the Republic of Korea. Making matters worse, they even indiscriminately fired against civilians. Such actions will never be tolerated.”
“The South Korean military will retaliate against any additional acts of provocation in a resolute manner,” the statement continued.
However, the North’s top military command accused the South of shooting first. According to North Korea’s Central News Agency, the top military command published an article stating, “The South Korean puppet group dared military provocation, firing shells onto our territorial waters near Yeonpyeong Island against our repeated warnings. So our revolutionary force took resolute military actions, responding to the South military provocation with immediate and powerful physical blows.”
It also warned, “From this time, there exists in the West Sea of Korea only the maritime military demarcation line set by us [North Korea].”
Yeonpyeong Island lies 3 km (1.9 mi.) south of the maritime border between the two Koreas, called the Northern Limit Line (NLL), which North Korea does not acknowledge, claiming that it was unilaterally set by the United States after the Korea War (1950~53) ended in a truce. The West Sea near the NLL has five inhabited islands including Yeonpyeong, and is an area of high tension making it a potential flashpoint between the two Koreas.
There have been three bloody naval skirmishes in the area, in 1999, 2002, and 2009. In each occasion, North Korean patrol vessels crossed the border, firing or provoking South Korean naval ships. Last March, South Korean navy ship, Cheonan, was attacked by a North Korean torpedo, investigators determined. The North denies any involvement.
Tuesday’s bombing came as the South Navy was conducting a routine drill near the island. The South began its nine-day annual defense drill on Monday, which North Korea denounced, sending a warning message to Seoul.
However, each time either South Korean or U.S.-South Korean military conduct exercises in the West Sea, the North sends a message warning of a potential attack. Normally, the North has stopped at verbal attacks, thus local residents did not expect to be fired on, in spite of the military drill near their island.
The exact damage has still not been reported, but dozens of houses burned down and a mountain on the island was set ablaze. All residents were evacuated to air-raid shelters and four civilians were reportedly injured, according to a spokesman for Incheon Metropolitan City, to which the island belongs.
Options for Retaliation
South Koreans are angry and increasingly concerned about the North, and some are looking to their government to retaliate for the attack on Yeonpyeong Island.
Kim Hwang-ho, a Seoul resident and medical doctor said, “I feel furious that innocent soldiers were killed again and the South Korean government is being pulled this way and that by the North Korea regime. I don’t think this attack will escalate into war because the North did it to get something from the South, but the South has to give some lessons this time.”
Experience has shown so far, however, that the response Seoul is willing to take is limited.
In May, after the sinking of the Cheonan which killed 46 soldiers, President Lee said that South Korea would exercise its “right to self-defense” in the event that the North invades the South. The “right” however, has so far been most narrowly interpreted as launching an immediate counterattack, as happened on Tuesday.
At present, serious military retaliation seems a remote option since it could lead to all-out war. In such a war, Pyongyang has little to lose given its ailing economy and poor infrastructure, while the South, the world’s 13th biggest economy, has much to lose. Each time there is news of military conflict between the two Koreas, the South has to reassure investors to prevent the stock market from falling.
Economic retaliation is not an option since there are already heavy sanctions in place against North Korea. Last year, the United Nations imposed tough sanctions after North Korean nuclear tests. Seoul stopped almost all economic trade and cooperation with the North, save for a joint industrial complex in Gaesung, after the sinking of the Cheonan.
Friends Read Free