Korean Peninsula On The Brink Of War

[catfish]

We made one.

"Possibility of military action" is ON THE TABLE according to Obama.

The USS George Washington is en route - and all that entails.

I gotta say that I wish we weren't doing this.


I have zero confidence that our civilian leadership can handle an escalation in this region. This isn't Kennedy and Khrushchev, its Obama and Lil' Kim. I'm hoping this is typical N Korea, pound their chest type stuff for use at the bargaining table. Maybe get some extra fuel oil or grain shipments, after all winter is upon us. Feels different this time though, especially when you take into account the ship that was torpedoed and also what Biden said about him being tested.

In what I consider major "tests" early on, Honduras and Iran, he appeared to side with the dictator, not the laws of the respective countries. I wish John Bolton was in charge, sigh...

[Backstop]

If the peninsula goes to war, it will cost many lives.

When I left there in 93, the accepted notion was the Norks would make it (? almost) all the way to Seoul before we could slow them down.

Unless of course we went nuclear.

If you had seen the Nork troops and equipment stacked on the border during GWI, you'd have a much greater appreciation for that notion.

[Ryan Ruck]

FNC saying NK fired more arty in the area of the island but didn't hit anything. They did this when the US Forces Korea Commander was on the island that had been hit surveying damage.

[American Patriot]

I heard too this morning that there were more shells, but it was a "drill".

[vector7]

CHINA TELLS AMERICA: Turn Around The USS George Washington

Published on 11-26-2010



China has warned against military activity near its coastline ahead of U.S.-Korea naval exercises, according to Reuters.China’s Foreign Ministry said in an online posting that naval exercises risks starting a war: “We oppose any military act by any party conducted in China’s exclusive economic zone without approval.”

North Korea has also threatened to respond to military gestures with more attacks: “The situation on the Korean peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war due to the reckless plan of those trigger-happy elements to stage again war exercises targeted against the (North).”

If this sounds familiar, it’s because the same thing happened after the Cheonan shipwreck. America sent some warships to join in naval exercises, China was outraged, and America yielded and moved the exercises primarily to a more distant location.

China wants peace. The only problem with Pax China is that it includes little protection for South Korea against the next surprise attack from Pyongyang.

[vector7]

South Korea Marines Vow "Thousand - Fold" Revenge

By REUTERS

Published: November 27, 2010

• Print

Filed at 5:23 a.m. ET

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Marine commander on Saturday vowed "thousand-fold" revenge for a North Korean attack that killed two servicemen as protesters demanded tougher action by the government against its reclusive neighbor.

President Lee Myung-bak told ministers and aides to be ready for further "provocation" by North Korea during joint military maneuvers with the United States that start on Sunday.

"There is the possibility that North Korea may do some unexpected action, so please perfectly prepare against it through cooperation with the Korea-U.S. joint force," Lee was quoted by a spokesman as saying.

The two Marines were honored with a gun salute as families wailed and grim-faced officials saluted the funeral cortege, four days after North Korea rained shells on a tiny island in the heaviest attack on South Korea since the 1950-53 civil war.

North Korea said that if there were civilian deaths, they were "very regrettable," but that South Korea should be blamed for forming a human shield.

Two Marines and two civilians were killed in the attack. South Korea responded with artillery fire 13 minutes later, but it was not clear what damage was caused.

"All Marines, including Marines on service and reserve Marines, will avenge the two at any cost, keeping today's anger and hostility in mind," said Lieutenant General Yoo Nak Joon, commander of the South Korean Marine Corps.

"We will put our feelings of rage and animosity in our bones and take our revenge on North Korea."

The funeral was followed by anti-North Korea protests in the capital as a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier headed for the maneuvers with South Korea, infuriating North Korea and prompting a warning from its only major ally, China.

"It's time for action. Time for retaliation. Let's hit the presidential palace in Pyongyang," shouted close to 1,000 Marine veterans in downtown Seoul who burned photographs of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his anointed successor, son Kim Jung-un.

Former members of the "Underwater Demolition Team," practiced in sabotage, protested against North Korea and against the government for ignoring their sacrifices on spy missions. Scuffles broke out and police used fire-extinguishers to break up the crowd.

"We can not help expressing our anger about the behavior of the defense ministry and the government in general that failed to take due retaliatory action," the group said.

South Korea's new defense minister called for tougher action, local media reported. A Seoul newspaper also reported the government plans to sharply increase defense spending next year.

Regional giant China has said it is determined to prevent an escalation of the violence but warned against military acts near its coast as U.S. and South Korean forces prepare for exercises in the Yellow Sea.

A North Korean website (http://www.uriminzokkiri) operated by the government propaganda agency said the war drills were "another unforgivable military provocation."

"(The North) will make the stronghold of the enemy a sheet of flames if they violate its territory even by 0.01 mm."

The U.S. military said the exercises, planned long before Tuesday's attack, were designed to deter North Korea and were not aimed at China.

"We've routinely operated in waters off the Korean peninsula for years," said Captain Darryn James, a Pentagon spokesman. "These latest provocations have been by the North and they need to take ownership of those, not us."

U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said North Korea's nuclear ambitions and leader Kim Jong-il's unpredictability increased the threat of regional instability.

[vector7]

N. Korea Fired Thermobaric Bombs

November 26, 2010

	South Korean K9 howitzers fired back after North Korea showered artillery shells on Yeonpyeong Island on Tuesday. Provided by the Defense Ministry

A closer look at the village and military barracks on Yeonpyeong Island the day after North Korea’s Tuesday attack revealed buildings reduced to charred blocks of cement and shattered glass.

Initial reports the day of the attack said around a dozen houses were damaged; roughly double that number are now confirmed to have been extensively damaged.

And South Korea’s military concludes the attack was meticulously planned, although much more damage would have been caused if the North’s equipment wasn’t so old and faulty. A high-ranking South Korean military official said that North Korea used thermobaric bombs, or “fuel-air bombs,” to wreak havoc on Yeonpyeong Island, the first time it has done so.

“After examining the collected rounds that fell on the island, we found them to be a variety of special weapons that can burst through concrete and [yield intense explosions],” the official said yesterday. “Upon explosion, these weapons are lethal and can destroy concrete structures with high pressure and heat.”

“It looks like North Korea used thermobaric bombs they’ve been developing for the first time,” said Representative Song Young-sun during a Defense Committee hearing at the National Assembly on Wednesday. “Regular shells explode just once, but from footage of the attack, the rounds that were fired exploded twice. This is one characteristic of thermobaric weapons.”

Thermobaric bombs have longer blast waves than regular explosives, and when used in the open air, they can result in increased casualties and more structural damage.

The South Korean military is examining around twenty North Korean shells that failed to explode and were found lodged in concrete walls and in tree branches. Eighty of the 170 shells fired managed to land on the island. Roughly 90 rounds fell into the sea.

The number of duds is expected to increase, as troops are still combing the island for shells. South Korean authorities believe the duds and the shells that failed to reach the island were the result of North Korea’s aged equipment or flawed gunpowder and detonators.

Military officials believe North Korea achieved such extensive damage on the island despite the duds and the misses because it meticulously planned the attack. It used “time-on-target” (TOT) coordination, a military tactic in which all the munitions arrive at the same time at a designated target for maximum destruction.

Minister of National Defense Kim Tae-young, who resigned yesterday, said Wednesday that North Korea used artillery guns located at the front and the rear of their bases, which means rounds were fired from locations that could not easily be detected visibly.

North Korean troops in Gaemori have also been observed since last year moving their artillery to the north, reinforcing them with concrete to defend against South Korean retaliation.

A firing drill using the TOT method was carried out by North Korea in January near the Northern Limit Line, with around 100 rounds fired, which South Korean authorities think was a dress rehearsal for Tuesday’s attack.

North Korea attacked when artillery on Yeonpyeong Island were facing southwest for firing exercises, away from North Korea, to buy more time and increase damage. Kim said it took time for the troops on the island to rotate the guns toward North Korea.

They didn’t fire randomly but specifically targeted the military base on the island, including oil storage units, and 20,000 liters of oil were released, some catching on fire. They also targeted the post office, a supermarket and municipal buildings. Those structure were formerly military buildings, so the South Korean military suspects North Korea was planning from an old map.

By Christine Kim [christine.kim@joongang.co.kr]

[vector7]

Expats recalled as North Korea prepares for war

By Shaun Walker in Moscow

Saturday, 27 November 2010

A mass exodus of North Korean workers from the Far East of Russia is under way, according to reports coming out of the region. As the two Koreas edged towards the brink of war this week, it appears that the workers in Russia have been called back to aid potential military operations.

Vladnews agency, based in Vladivostok, reported that North Korean workers had left the town of Nakhodka en masse shortly after the escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula earlier this week. "Traders have left the kiosks and markets, workers have abandoned building sites, and North Korean secret service employees working in the region have joined them and left," the agency reported.

Russia's migration service said that there were over 20,000 North Koreans in Russia at the beginning of 2010, of which the vast majority worked in construction. The workers are usually chaperoned by agents from Kim Jong-il's security services and have little contact with the world around them. Defectors have suggested that the labourers work 13-hour days and that most of their pay is sent back to the government in Pyongyang. Hundreds of workers have fled the harsh conditions and live in hiding in Russia, constantly in fear of being deported back to North Korea.

"North Korea's government sends thousands of its citizens to Russia to earn money, most of which is funnelled through government accounts," says Simon Ostrovsky, a journalist who discovered secret North Korean logging camps in the northern Siberian taiga. "Workers are often sent to remote locations for years at a time to work long hours and get as little as three days off per year." Now it appears that some kind of centralised order has been given for the workers to return home.

Russia's Pacific port of Vladivostok is thousands of miles and seven time zones from Moscow, but only around 100 miles from the country's heavily controlled border with North Korea. In 1996, a diplomat from the South Korean consulate in the city was murdered with a poisoned pencil, in what was widely believed to be a hit carried out by the North's secret agents. There are even two North Korean restaurants in the city. It is not known how many of the workers in other Russian towns have been called back to their homeland this week, or whether the exodus is permanent or temporary.

[vector7]

N.Korea 'Has 180,000 Special Forces Ready to Cross into South

North Korea operates 40,000 special forces troops, including the 11th or "Storm" Corps whose mission is to infiltrate South Korea and create havoc in case of war. It also has around 10,000 naval special forces and around 5,000 air force soldiers who can cross the border if a war breaks out.

The figures were revealed in a speech by former South Korean commander of special operations Kim Yun-suk to fellow veterans at the War Memorial in Seoul.

Kim said the Storm Corps, which has been trained to stir up confusion behind enemy lines, is composed of four light infantry, seven airborne and three sniper brigades. And the 4th Corps special forces, stationed on the Ongjin Peninsula close to South Korea's Baeknyeong Islands in the West Sea, consists of 600 scout troops, 600 naval reconnaissance soldiers and around 1,800 naval forces.

The North also operates a large amphibious landing force in the region similar to South Korea's Marines. Totaling 180,000 troops, North Korea has the largest number of special ops forces in the world. The 11th Corps accounts for 22 percent with 40,000 special forces troops, and 120,000 light infantry brigades make up 66 percent of the special forces. The reconnaissance brigade, which has been fingered in the sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan, accounts for around 6 percent of special forces, and the Navy and Air Force each have around 5,000 crack troops, which make up 3 percent.

"Ten thousand North Korean special forces are capable of infiltrating simultaneously through underground tunnels or aboard 260 hovercraft or submarines, while 175 AN-2 transport planes and 310 helicopters can transport another 10,000 troops," Kim said.

The former officer said the South needs to come up with measures to deal with the so-called asymmetric threat by creating a powerful special forces brigade, operating a special military branch that handles North Korea's irregular forces and boosting the number of anti-terrorism units and training.

[vector7]

"Filipinos in Korea to be moved to Japan"

President Benigno Aquino said the Philippine government plans to move its nationals to Japan in case the tense situation in the Korean peninsula deteriorates.

* By Barbara Mae Dacanay, Bureau Chief
* Published: 00:00 November 27, 2010

Manila: President Benigno Aquino said the Philippine government plans to move its nationals to Japan in case the tense situation in the Korean peninsula deteriorates.

An estimated 50,000 Filipinos live and work in South Korea while nine were reportedly in North Korea.

Aquino has ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to do test runs on the planned evacuation. The DFA was likewise directed to coordinate with the Japanese mission in Manila.

The armed forces was also ordered to place an air force C-130 cargo aircraft and a naval transport ship on standby in case there's an immediate need to ferry Filipinos out of Korea. Officials were also coordinating with private commercial airlines — Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Airways — that operate flights to South Korea.

"The budget is being prepared in case it's needed but as of this time I just wanted them to make sure we are able to reach out to all of the people that we have there," Aquino said.

The United Nations also assured the safety of nine Filipinos in North Korea, said Aquino, adding that five of them are with the UN while the others work for a tobacco company.

The plans were finalised after Aquino's meeting with the Cabinet's security cluster at the persidential palace.

Aquino also issued a statement condemning North Korea's artillery attack on South Korea's Yeonpyeong island at the disputed sea border, where four people, including two South Korean marines, were killed."

[Ryan Ruck]

Expats recalled as North Korea prepares for war

"Filipinos in Korea to be moved to Japan"

That's exactly the kind of thing I was talking about back in post 93...

[American Patriot]

Guys... this is very serious.

Very.

We're watching the slow, but sure, escalation of tensions. This is PRECISELY the thing I've mentioned in the past, the kind of thing we'd look for in the Cold War. Now it is happening in a different region than in Europe, but is IS happening.

Iran and the rest of the places have gotten REALLY quiet lately... they are working diligently to get some nukes together, there is absolutely NO doubt about it.

If the balloon goes up guys, there will be war on several fronts, including IN COUNTRY. You all better prepare for the worst.

[American Patriot]

Here's a man that needs to shut his big fucking MOUTH, and NOW.

Jimmy Carter: North Korean Regime Deserves Our Respect


Fire it up 8
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A media person walks at houses destroyed by North Korean shelling on the Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 26, 2010. North Korea warned Friday that planned U.S.-South Korean military drills are pushing the peninsula to the brink of war. (AP/Lee Jin-man)
The North Korean regime attacked South Korea killing 2 Korean Marines and 2 civilians.


Thank goodness Jimmy Carter was there to defend them.
Via Verum Serumand The Washington Post:


No one can completely understand the motivations of the North Koreans, but it is entirely possible that their recent revelation of their uranium enrichment centrifuges and Pyongyang's shelling of a South Korean island Tuesday are designed to remind the world that they deserve respect in negotiations that will shape their future



Read more: http://nation.foxnews.com/jimmy-cart...#ixzz16WBtDfVH

[American Patriot]

Diplomatic Flurry Precedes Korean War Games

VOA News

[IMG]http://media.voanews.com/images/480*322/ap_korea_clash_map_27nov10_eng_480.jpg[/IMG] Photo: AP

A map of possible North Korean artillery positions hangs over a phone and a radio inside a guard post on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, 26 Nov 2010


Related Articles

• North Korea Accuses South of Using Human Shields
• Cut in Humanitarian Aid Latest Fallout from North Korean Shelling of South Korea
• North Korea Condemns US-South Korean Naval Exercises

China launched a flurry of diplomatic activity Saturday to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula after North Korea's shelling of a South Korean island.

The diplomatic activity came as the United States and South Korea prepared for military exercises.

The two countries are scheduled to begin the long-planned war games Sunday, less than a week after North Korean forces shelled the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, killing two marines and two civilians.

North Korea's state-run media has criticized the drills, warning the two Koreas are on "the brink of war."

China Saturday sent two top officials to Seoul to meet with South Korea's foreign minister in an effort to promote calm.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi also called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for consultations.

Chinese officials say both moves were focused on easing tensions and kick-starting stalled talks over North Korea's nuclear program.

China has warned it opposes any "unilateral military act" in the area without its permission, referring to the U.S.-South Korean drills.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN, in an interview due to air Sunday, that, as North Korea's closest ally, China has as much at stake as anyone if the region is destabilized.


Meanwhile, North Korea leveled new accusations at South Korea Saturday, charging Seoul was using the civilians on the island of Yeonpyeong as a human shields.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency also said if there were civilian deaths, they were "very regrettable."

South Korea also upped the rhetoric Saturday during the funeral for the two marines killed in Tuesday's attack by Pyongyang.

Marine commander Lieutenant General Yoo Nak-joon vowed a "thousand-fold" retaliation against the North. The comments to hundreds of high-ranking politicians, generals, religious leaders and civilians were also broadcast nation-wide.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

[American Patriot]

U.S. Seeks to Keep Korean Tension From Escalating to Conflict, Mullen Says

By Justin Blum - Nov 27, 2010 11:10 AM MT

The U.S. is trying to prevent North Korea’s attack on a South Korean island from escalating into a more significant conflict, said Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.



“We’re very focused on restraint and not letting this thing get out of control,” Mullen told CNN in an interview scheduled for broadcast tomorrow on “Fareed Zakaria GPS” and posted on the network’s Website. “The South Koreans so far have responded that way. Nobody wants this thing to turn into a conflict.”



North Korea on Nov. 23 shelled a South Korean fishing community and military base with artillery rounds, killing four people. U.S. President Barack Obama and leaders in Japan and South Korea have publicly urged China, North Korea’s biggest trading partner, to use its influence on Kim Jong Il’s government to resolve the conflict.



The shelling of Yeonpyeong raised tensions that flared after an international inquiry concluded that North Korea torpedoed the South Korean warship Cheonan in March and more recently following North Korean claims of advances in its nuclear program.



China has the most leverage with North Korea and “it’s really important that Beijing lead here,” Mullen said.



North Korea’s actions destabilize the region “and China has as much to lose as anybody in that region with the continuation of this kind of behavior,” he said.





The U.S. and South Korea were set to begin joint military exercises in the waters west of the Korean Peninsula as a show of force. North Korea denounced the exercises as reckless and said it would move the peninsula closer to the “brink of war.”



The Korean won was Asia’s worst-performing currency against the dollar yesterday, after North Korea threatened “a shower of terrifying fire.” The Kospi stock index fell 1.3 percent.



To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Blum in Washington at jblum4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net

[American Patriot]

27 Nov, 2010, 11.04PM IST,IANS
Clinton urges China to send signal to North Korea

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke with her Chinese counterpart on Saturday, urging Beijing to "make clear that North Korea's behaviour is unacceptable", the State Department said.

State Department spokesman P J Crowley announced the phone call on Twitter, days after North Korea launched an artillery assault on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong. The attack left four people dead, including two South Korean soldiers.

The US, South Korea and other countries have condemned North Korea's artillery assault as provocative and destabilizing. US President Barack Obama has condemned the attack as an "outrage" and telephoned President Lee Myung Bak to affirm US commitment to South Korea's security.

China has been reluctant to back tough policies and has so far not condemned North Korea for Tuesday's hostilities, instead urging restraint on both sides. But as North Korea's closest friend, the US has regularly sought Beijing's support to pressure Pyongyang.

Crowley said earlier this week that China has a role to play in pressuring Pyongyang.

"Its not that China can dictate a particular action to North Korea, but it is that China, together with the United States and other countries, has to send a clear, direct, unified message that it is North Korea that has to change," Crowley said.

The US has about 28,000 soldiers stationed in South Korea, a presence that has remained since 1953, when an armistice ended Korean War hostilities

[American Patriot]

Pound Drops Versus Dollar on China Tightening, Korea ‘Unease’

By Lucy Meakin - Nov 27, 2010 12:30 AM MT

The pound posted its biggest weekly drop against the dollar in more than six months as concern that China is moving to slow its economy and tensions between North and South Korea diminished demand for riskier assets.



The U.K. currency fell below $1.56 for the first time since September as North Korea’s state-run news agency said planned naval exercises by South Korea and the U.S. moved the peninsula “closer to the brink of war.” Speculation grew that China will increase borrowing costs to contain consumer prices after inflation sped up to its fastest since 2008.



“The tensions in Korea, policy tightening in China and the likelihood of more to come add to the sense of unease,” said Daragh Maher, deputy head of global foreign-exchange strategy at Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank in London. “In this kind of more nervous environment in general, we’re getting a dollar bid and by extension sterling is losing some ground.”



The pound dropped to $1.5602 as of 4:30 p.m. in London yesterday, a weekly decline of 2.4 percent. It’s the third weekly decline against the dollar in a row and the biggest since the week ending May 7. Sterling gained 0.9 percent versus the euro to 84.82 pence.



The U.K. currency depreciated against 11 of its 16 most- actively traded peers this week.



The U.S. sent an aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington, to the Yellow Sea off the western coast of the Korean peninsula in a show of strength after North Korea shelled a South Korean island on Nov. 23. Global stocks declined as yesterday North Korea threatened a “shower of terrifying fire” in response.





Bank of England



Data released in the week showed U.K. gross domestic product expanded 0.8 percent in the third quarter, unchanged from initial government estimates. The Confederation of British Industry said its retail-sales index rose in November and stores expect momentum to continue in the run-up to Christmas.



Members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee speaking on Nov. 25 gave no indication the central bank plans to step up so-called quantitative easing to support the economic recovery. The committee remains split three ways on a possible extension of its asset-purchase program, known as QE2.



Bank Governor Mervyn King told lawmakers in London that policy makers view inflation risks as “broadly balanced” at present and are ready to tighten or loosen policy as needed.



MPC Testimony



“Testimony from MPC members showed quite a range of opinion,” said Maher. “That would be a little more supportive of sterling to the extent that it would make it less likely that we get QE2, but because the dollar’s been so strong in this nervous market, it’s really only been reflected in a bit of euro-sterling weakness rather than pound-dollar upside.”



U.K. government bonds rose in the week on demand for the safety of fixed-income assets amid speculation Europe’s sovereign-debt burdens are worsening.



Borrowing costs for Europe’s most indebted nations reached record highs as Ireland’s capitulation in accepting a rescue package for its banking industry stoked concern that other countries will have to seek aid. The Financial Times Deutschland yesterday reported euro-area policy makers are pushing Portugal to request support to shore up its economy and stem the risk of a bailout being needed in Spain.



The 10-year gilt yield slumped four basis points to 3.34 percent, paring last week’s three month high. The two-year note yield dropped seven basis points in the week to 1.02 percent.



Gilts have returned 6.9 percent this year, compared with a 7.1 percent gain for German bonds and 7.3 percent for U.S. Treasuries, according to indexes compiled by Bloomberg and the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies.



Sterling has weakened 3.8 percent against a basket of its developed-country peers this year, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Currency Indexes, making it the third- worst-performing currency after the euro and Norwegian krone. It has appreciated 0.8 percent in the past month.



To contact the reporter on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net.

Last update: 2:50 AM ET, Nov 27

[American Patriot]

U.S., South Korea To Hold Military Exercises Over North's Objections



Neon Tommy | November 27, 2010


The United States and South Korean militaries are preparing for a series of war games to practice their tactics for any future North Korean attacks, provoking the dismay of both North Korea and China.


Tensions remain high in the region because of North Korean attack earlier this week that killed two South Korean civilians and two of its service members. South Korean officials really want to retaliate for the killings.


Reports the Washington Post:

The war games starting Sunday and involving the USS George Washington supercarrier display resolve by Korean War allies Washington and Seoul to respond strongly to any future North Korean aggression. However, Washington has insisted the drills are routine and were planned well before last Tuesday's attack. North Korea on Saturday warned of retaliatory attacks creating a "sea of fire" if its territory is violated.

[American Patriot]

Blasts heard near North Korea border


26 November 2010 Last updated at 11:02 ET Help
North Korea is believed to have fired more artillery shells near the island where four people were killed earlier this week. No shells are said to have landed on South Korean territory.


The firing appears to have been part of a training exercise but came with a warning from Pyongyang that Seoul's plans for military manoeuvres with the US were pushing the region to "the brink of war".


The BBC's Chris Hogg said the firing happened soon after a top American military commander visited the island.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11849198


Vid on the page

[American Patriot]

World: Global
Korea: Seoul promises to "avenge slain soldiers'

The funerals of soldiers killed by the North Korea bombing create further tensions in the area, on the eve of joint naval manoeuvres between Seoul and Washington. Pyongyang reiterates that it will strike “any invader without mercy" ". Clinton assures China that warns against "unauthorised ...

Saturday, November 27, 2010
By Asia News



Seoul’s Navy Commander, Nak-Joon Yoo who said, during the funeral ceremony broadcast live on television and holdinh the photos of the two soldiers "we will certainly avenge your death."


The high ranking official’s words reflect national sentiment traumatised by the North Korean attack and above all the reaction judged ineffective. Protests continue (pictured), while the defence minister, who resigned Thursday, was significantly replaced by a military officer, former Chief of Staff, Kim Kwan-Jin. And today both the Korea Times and Korea Joongang speak of a restructure and strengthening of the army to avoid a new "humiliation" by the north.


Pyongyang, for its part, repeated today that it will "mercilessly" strike anyone who intrudes within its borders, land, sea or sky. An obvious reference to the naval manoeuvres, which Beijing has also warned against "unauthorised military action " off its coasts.


This intervention by Beijing, North Korea's major ally, is not the one hoped for by the United States, which had asked China to condemn Pyongyang’s aggression to. The Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has also spoken by telephone with her counterpart, Yang Jiechi, to ensure that the manoeuvres have only a "defensive" nature of "deterrence" towards North Korea and not towards China.