(Huffington Post) North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire Tuesday November 23, 2010 after the North shelled an island near their disputed sea border, killing at least two South Korean marines, setting dozens of buildings ablaze and sending civilians fleeing for shelter. The clash, which placed South Korea's military on high alert, was one of the rivals' most dramatic confrontations since the Korean War ended, and one of the few to put civilians at risk, though no nonmilitary deaths were immediately reported. Sixteen South Korean soldiers and three civilians were injured and the extent of casualties on the northern side was unknown. The skirmish began when Pyongyang warned the South to halt military drills in the area, according to South Korean officials. When Seoul refused and began firing artillery into disputed waters, albeit away from the North Korean shore, the North retaliated by bombarding the small island of Yeonpyeong, which houses South Korean military installations and a small civilian population.
South Korea responded by firing K-9 155 mm self-propelled howitzers and dispatching fighter jets. Officials in Seoul said there could be considerable North Korean casualties. The entire skirmish lasted about an hour. Each side has threatened the other against another attack. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who convened an emergency security meeting shortly after the initial bombardment, said that an "indiscriminate attack on civilians can never be tolerated. "Enormous retaliation should be made to the extent that (North Korea) cannot make provocations again," he said. Meanwhile, the supreme military command in Pyongyang threatened more strikes if the South crossed their maritime border by "even .001 milimeter," according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
A statement from the North said it was merely "reacting to the military provocation of the puppet group with a prompt powerful physical strike," and accused Seoul of starting the skirmish with its "reckless military provocation as firing dozens of shells inside the territorial waters of the North." Government officials in Seoul called the bombardments "inhumane atrocities" that violated the 1953 armistice halting the Korean War. The two sides technically remain at war because a peace treaty was never signed, and nearly 2 million troops--including tens of thousands from the U.S.--are positioned on both sides the world's most heavily militarized border. The exchange represents a sharp escalation of the skirmishes that flare up along the disputed border from time to time. It also comes amid high tensions over the north's apparent progress in its quest for nuclear weapons--Pyongyang claims it has a new uranium enrichment facility--and six weeks after North Korean leader Jim Jong II anointed his youngest son, King Jong Un, as the heir apparent. "It brings us one step closer to the brink of war," said Peter Beck, a research fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, "because I don't think the North would seek war by intention, but war by accident, something spiraling out of control has always been my fear."
Columns of thick black smoke could be seen rising from homes on the island, footage aired by YTN cable television showed. Screams and shouts filled the air as shells rained down on the island just south of the disputed sea border. Yeonpyeong lies a mere seven miles (11 kilometers) from -- and within sight of -- the North Korean mainland. The United States, which has more than 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea, condemned the attack in Washington, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called on North Korea to "halt its belligerent action," and said the U.S. is committed to South Korea's defense.
China, the North's economic and political benefactor, which also maintains close commercial ties to the South, appealed to both sides to remain calm and "to do more to contribute to peace and stability on the peninsula," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei said. Stephen Bosworth, the Obama administration's special envoy to North Korea, said he discussed the clash with the Chinese foreign minister and that they agreed both sides should show restraint. He reiterated that the U.S. stands firmly with its ally, South Korea.
Yeonpyeong, famous for its crabbing industry and home to about 1700 civilians as well as South Korean military installations. There are about 30 other small islands nearby. North Korea fired dozens of rounds of artillery in three separate barrages that began in the mid-afternoon, while South Korea returned fire with about 80 rounds, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The Korean War between North and South Korea ended in a truce in 1953. However, North Korea doesn't recognize the western maritime border drawn unilaterally by the United Nations at the close of the conflict, and the Koreas have fought three bloody skirmishes there in recent years. South Korea holds military exercises off the west coast like Tuesday's about every three months. In March, a South Korean warship went down in the waters while on a routine patrolling mission. Forty-six sailors were killed in what South Korea calls the worst military attack on the country since the war.
Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated the attacks may be tied to the leadership succession, in which Kim Jong Il is going to hand over the reins of power to his son. Mullen said in an interview that Kim is generating these kinds of high profile and dangerous confrontations to coincide with the ascension of his son to power. A senior U.S. Military official told Fox News that the attack was "nevertheless unprovoked". The Obama administration is looking to China to restrain North Korea from further provocative acts. Kim Jong Il and his Communist regime should have been dealt with during the George W. Bush administration. Instead Bush just played patty cake with Jong Il. North Korea was named along with Iraq and Iran as the three countries that constituted the "axis of evil" during the Bush administration. Consequently, Bush never put Kim Jong Il in his place and President Obama isn't handling this situation much differently. President Obama needs to place Kim Jong Il on notice and tell him that if he (Kim Jong) decides to fire at South Korea again, then he's going to regret doing so because the U.S. will give South Korea nuclear weapons to fire at North Korea, if North Korea launches another attack. Instead our elected elites are wimps and won't stand up to North Korea.
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