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North Korea has fired several artillery shells into South Korea
- Thread starter bakaroo
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- korea north korea
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (C), Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin (2nd R, front row) and other generals walk before their meeting at the presidential Blue House in Seoul December 16, 2010. South Korea said on Thursday it will conduct a live-fire artillery drill between December 18-21 on Yeonpyeong island, which was shelled by North Korea on November 23, according to local media.
South Korean marines patrol on Yeonpyeong Island near the western maritime border between the two Koreas December 17, 2010. South Korea will hold a live-fire artillery drill on the island between December 18-21, which was shelled by North Korea last month, the first such exercise on the island since the attack that the North said was a response to a provocation by Seoul.
Marine Corps General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
South Korea drill risks "chain reaction", says US general
17 December 2010
WASHINGTON: A top US general on Thursday voiced concern over a possible "chain reaction" on the Korean peninsula if a planned South Korean artillery exercise leads to an aggressive response from the North.
South Korea had earlier announced plans for the live-fire exercise on Yeonpyeong island, its first on the frontline island since a similar drill unleashed a deadly North Korean bombardment there last month.
General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the live-fire exercise was being held on a "well-established and well-used" range in a transparent way, but it remained unclear how North Korea would respond.
"What we worry about obviously is ... if North Korea were to react to that in a negative way and fire back at those firing positions on the islands, that would start potentially a chain reaction," Cartwright told reporters.
"What you don't want to have happen out of that is for ... us to lose control of the escalation. That's the concern," added Cartwright, who is the US military's second-highest ranking officer.
The South's military said its guns would be aimed away from the North, as usual, but that it would respond strongly if provoked.
It also said members of the US-led United Nations Command would observe the one-day exercise, to be staged some time between December 18 and 21.
Cartwright said about 15 US military trainers and six observers would be on hand for the drill.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said South Korea had a legitimate right to maintain its defences.
"These are routine exercises. There is nothing provocative or unusual or threatening about these exercises," Crowley told a news conference.
"North Korea should not see these South Korean actions as a provocation," he said, adding that it would be "unwise" for North Korea to react.
- AFP/de
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (L) is pictured upon his arrival at the international airport in Pyongyang December 16, 2010. Richardson headed to Pyongyang to try to "lessen tension" on the Korean Peninsula after the November barrage that killed four people and thrust confilct in the region back on to the radar of global investors.
South Korean protesters stage a rally denouncing South Korea's live-fire drills on Yeonpyeong Island in front of Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 17, 2010. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staffs said in a statement that marines based on Yeonpyeong Island, a tiny fishing community with military bases near the Koreas' disputed sea border, will stage one-day live-fire drills sometime between Saturday and Tuesday.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg exits the VIP entrance and walks towards a car upon arrival at the Capital Airport in Beijing Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010. Steinberg arrived here for talks Thursday with Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, Beijing's top foreign policy official, who returned last week from talks in Pyongyang with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
N.Korea warns of possible nuclear war
17 December 2010
SEOUL: North Korea warned that another war with South Korea would involve nuclear weapons, as diplomatic efforts continued to ease high tensions over its deadly artillery attack and atomic ambitions.
Uriminzokkiri, the official website of the communist state, said in a commentary seen Friday that war on the Korean Peninsula is only a matter of time.
"Because of the South Koreans' reckless war policies, it is not about war or peace on the Korean peninsula but when the war will break out," the website said.
"If war breaks out, it will lead to nuclear warfare and not be limited to the Korean peninsula," it said in a posting dated Thursday.
In a separate commentary, ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun Friday described the peninsula as the world's most dangerous place.
It reiterated calls for a formal peace treaty with Washington and the withdrawal of 28,500 US troops from South Korea.
"The Korean peninsula remains a region fraught with the greatest danger of war in the world," the paper said. "This is entirely attributable to the US pursuance of the policy of aggression against the DPRK (North Korea)."
The North frequently claims nuclear war is imminent. But military tensions have risen sharply since it bombarded a South Korean border island on November 23, killing two marines and two civilians.
Pyongyang's disclosure last month of an apparently working uranium enrichment plant -- a potential new source of bomb-making material -- also heightened regional security fears.
Prominent US politician Bill Richardson is paying a private visit to Pyongyang to try to ease tensions.
The US envoy to stalled talks on the North's nuclear disarmament, Sung Kim, was to hold talks in Seoul later Friday with his South Korean counterpart Wi Sung-Lac.
-AFP/wk
A ferry sails to a port of Yeonpyeong Island as South Korean Marines look on in South Korea, Friday, Dec. 17, 2010. South Korea said Thursday it will fire artillery from a front-line island shelled last month by North Korea, a move that risked further confrontation even as New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson traveled to the North in a diplomatic effort to cool tensions.
Residents wait to embark a ship at a port to leave from the Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 17, 2010. South Korea said Thursday it will fire artillery from a front-line island shelled last month by North Korea, a move that risked further confrontation.
Residents of Yeonpyeong island scuffle with officials of Incheon City Hall Office as they demand meeting with mayor Song Yeong-gil at the city hall building in Incheon, west of Seoul December 17, 2010. The residents asked the city hall office to work out to change their residence from the island to the land. South Korea will hold a live-fire artillery drill on the island between December 18-21, which was shelled by North Korea last month.
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