John
11-29-2010, 05:45 PM
South Korea's president has expressed outrage at an artillery attack by the North last week and vowed tough consequences for any future aggression.
The South Korean military has also cancelled plans to carry out new artillery drills in the waters near Yeonpyeong Island, as joint military manoeuvres by South Korea and the US Navy got under way.
The united display of military muscle is a response to the attack last week which killed four people, including two civilians.
Sky News China correspondent Holly Williams, in Beijing, said: "The US and South Korea say the military exercises are defence in nature, but in reality they are a show of force.
"These exercises are clearly meant as a reminder to the North that if push ever came to shove on the Korean peninsula, they would be massively outgunned.
"They are the biggest naval exercises ever held between South Korea and the US - at least 7,000 personnel are involved and at their centre a nuclear powered US aircraft carrier."
The president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, lashed out at the North during a televised address.
"Only a few metres away from where shells landed, there is a school where classes were going on," he said.
"I am outraged by the ruthlessness of the North Korean regime, which is even indifferent to the lives of little children.
"Attacking civilians militarily is an inhumane crime that is strictly forbidden in a time of war.
"Now is the time to show action, not a hundred words."
Mr Lee has come under criticism for what opponents have called lapses in South Korea's response to the attack.
He has replaced his defence minister, ordered reinforcements for the 4,000 troops on Yeonpyeong and four other Yellow Sea islands and upgraded rules of engagement.
North Korea has issued a fresh threat to attack South Korea and the US, calling the allies' joint war drills yet another grave military provocation.
Meanwhile, China, the North's only major ally, has called for an emergency meeting next month with the regional powers involved in nuclear disarmament talks, including North Korea.
However, as our China correspondent Holly Williams explains: "China has shown time and time again that it's unwilling to get involved.
"That means that we are locked in the current situation and the status quo remains unchanged."
Seoul gave a cool response to Beijing's proposal, saying it should be reviewed very carefully in light of North Korea's recent revelation of a new uranium-enrichment facility.
The troubled relations between the two Koreas, which fought a three-year war in the 1950s, have steadily deteriorated since Mr Lee's conservative government took power in 2008 with a tough new policy toward the North.
Source - Yahoo News.
The South Korean military has also cancelled plans to carry out new artillery drills in the waters near Yeonpyeong Island, as joint military manoeuvres by South Korea and the US Navy got under way.
The united display of military muscle is a response to the attack last week which killed four people, including two civilians.
Sky News China correspondent Holly Williams, in Beijing, said: "The US and South Korea say the military exercises are defence in nature, but in reality they are a show of force.
"These exercises are clearly meant as a reminder to the North that if push ever came to shove on the Korean peninsula, they would be massively outgunned.
"They are the biggest naval exercises ever held between South Korea and the US - at least 7,000 personnel are involved and at their centre a nuclear powered US aircraft carrier."
The president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, lashed out at the North during a televised address.
"Only a few metres away from where shells landed, there is a school where classes were going on," he said.
"I am outraged by the ruthlessness of the North Korean regime, which is even indifferent to the lives of little children.
"Attacking civilians militarily is an inhumane crime that is strictly forbidden in a time of war.
"Now is the time to show action, not a hundred words."
Mr Lee has come under criticism for what opponents have called lapses in South Korea's response to the attack.
He has replaced his defence minister, ordered reinforcements for the 4,000 troops on Yeonpyeong and four other Yellow Sea islands and upgraded rules of engagement.
North Korea has issued a fresh threat to attack South Korea and the US, calling the allies' joint war drills yet another grave military provocation.
Meanwhile, China, the North's only major ally, has called for an emergency meeting next month with the regional powers involved in nuclear disarmament talks, including North Korea.
However, as our China correspondent Holly Williams explains: "China has shown time and time again that it's unwilling to get involved.
"That means that we are locked in the current situation and the status quo remains unchanged."
Seoul gave a cool response to Beijing's proposal, saying it should be reviewed very carefully in light of North Korea's recent revelation of a new uranium-enrichment facility.
The troubled relations between the two Koreas, which fought a three-year war in the 1950s, have steadily deteriorated since Mr Lee's conservative government took power in 2008 with a tough new policy toward the North.
Source - Yahoo News.