At 230pm South Korean time, North Korean military forces started shelling South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong. 200 rounds were fired from long range artilery and so far 2 deaths were recorded and 15 other are injured.
South Korea warns North Korea it will ‘sternly retaliate’ to any further provocation
South Korea has warned North Korea it would “sternly retaliate” to any further provocations after dozens of shells were fired at a South Korean island.
By Peter Foster, Beijing 9:41AM GMT 23 Nov 2010
Two South Korean marines were killed and 17 others injured, as well as three civilians, after North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells onto a Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow sea, 50 miles off the South’s northwest coast in an area close to a disputed sea border.
The attack, which comes days after it emerged that North Korea was pressing ahead with its illegal nuclear programme, marks a serious further escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
A presidential statement said the shelling “constitutes a clear armed provocation.”
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There is a population of 1,200 on that border island and exist a South Korean military installation.
These are the photos received via e mail from South Korea:
This latest skirmish is believed to be a reaction against the series of military exercises organised jointly by South Korea and United States, which is actually a reaction from the sinking of South Korean offshore patrol vessel Cheonan on 26 March 2010, whilst patrolling on the South Korean side of the Yellow Sea.
Few days ago, it was revealed that North Korea is actively re-enriching the uranium plant in Yongbyon. South Korea and its allies which include the United States and Japan were fast to react, which include diplomatic threats.
The Guardian:
South Korea considers return of US tactical nuclear weapons
Defence minister hints at deploying US weapons on his country’s soil for first time since 1991 after news of North Korean plant
- guardian.co.uk, Monday 22 November 2010 21.54 GMT
- Article history
A 4 November satellite image shows the site of North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear facility. Photograph: Digitalglobe/Getty ImagesSouth Korea‘s defence minister today raised the possibility that USnuclear weapons could be deployed in his country for the first time in nearly 20 years, after it was revealed that Pyongyang had built an advanced uranium enrichment plant.
Kim Tae-young was speaking to a parliamentary committee about theNorth Korea plant, when he was asked whether the government would consider the return of US tactical weapons for the first time since they were withdrawn by President George Bush Sr in 1991.
He replied that the matter would be “reviewed” by a joint US-Korean committee on deterrence set up last month. His remarks drew attention as the issue has been treated as taboo in the highly-charged atmosphere of the Korean peninsular.
Korean government officials were anxious to play down the significance of his comments, and insisted the taboo remained in place. A Korean defence ministry statement said the redeployment of nuclear weapons had not so far been raised. The Pentagon said there were no immediate plans to redeploy nuclear weapons in South Korea.
The US envoy on Korea, Stephen Bosworth, who was in Seoul for talks on the deteriorating situation, also said that talks were still possible, despite the discovery of the plant, which was shown to an American nuclear scientist by the North Koreans earlier this month.
“This is not a crisis, we are not surprised,” Bosworth said, on the first leg of an east Asia tour. Asked whether six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear programmes could be salvaged, he said: “My crystal ball is foggy but I would never declare any process dead. We have hope that we will be able to resuscitate [them].”
Even before the visit of Siegfried Hecker, the former chief of the US nuclear weapons laboratory at Los Alamos, to the North Korea enrichment plant, the US and South Korea had insisted that the regime would have to cease other nuclear activities and apologise for thesinking of a South Korean warship before the stalled six-party negotiations could resume.
Hecker said the enrichment plant at Yongbyon, near Pyongyang, had up to 2,000 centrifuges and was surprisingly modern. He said it appeared to be designed for the production of low enriched nuclear fuel for power stations, but acknowledged it could easily be reconfigured to make highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons
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It is not known how the attack is resulted directly from the Cheonan and new developments at Yongbyon. However, creating a military tension is never good even for Malaysia which is over 3,500 miles away. The South Korean President is slated to come to Kuala Lumpur for his inaugural visit in two and half weeks time. It should be a boon to bi-lateral relations and business.
If this military tension persist, then the visit might not happen soon.
